Soul Mates
by Comix and Co
Summary: When Hermione Granger's spirit is seperated from her body, she is left hopless. Voldemort's forces are rising, Harry is in danger, and she needs to get back to help him, but nobody can see her. Nobody, that is, but the arrogant, prat-like pureblood Draco Malfoy, who in turn has his own sinister task that he must carry out... Sixth year, Rated T to be safe
1. Prologue

Prologue

**A/N:**** Hi. Technically I shouldn't be posting this, since I should be trying to finish my other, non-completed story, but I have writers block and this story, so far in my notebook, is coming along nicely with a plot and everything (plots don't normally happen until chapter twelve with me when I finally realise what will happen during the story) so I figured I post the prologue and see what people thought of it. If people like it, I'll continue it soon. If people don't like it, I'll continue it anyways, but the updates will be really slow…**

**Sorry the prologue is so short, I didn't want to give anything else away since this scene will be redone in a couple of chapters, please read anyway, and don't forget to review once you've read to tell me what you think about it! Helpful criticism is welcomed with cookies!**

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_If I could have one wish, it would just be this, I could take you to my soul and show you all the love there is. _~Chely Wright

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Madam Pince quickly surveyed the school library one more time before she was to lock up. The room was deadly quiet and the torches' flames dim, she would cast _nox_ on them soon; the large room was empty and there was a floating book above one of the tables. Everything was fine and normal… she hastily did a double take in shock.

There was a book floating above a table.  
There was _a book_ floating above the table.

Gingerly, Madame Pince approached the table. Nothing was near the book to explain why it would be floating. Unless… unless the person holding the book was invisible? Rumour had it Potter was able to make himself invisible somehow, so Severus Snape, the Potions Master said. Slowly, she waved her hands through the seemingly still air around the book. Nothing was there. The book jerked a little in the air, as if the person holding it had winced.

Madame Pince gasped sharply, before telling herself to calm down. This wasn't _so_ out of the ordinary… she worked at Hogwarts library, and it was common knowledge that Hogwarts was the home to many a ghost. Madam Pince was not afraid of them, and she knew they could choose to become invisible by choice. She was genuinely confused by why they would choose to be so, but decided to be polite to whoever it was anyway.

"It is time for the library to close." She said quietly, "Please put your book back and leave for the night." The book didn't move initially at her smooth yet imperative command, but soon after the book shut and floated over to one of the bookshelves where it was placed back. "Thank you." Madame Pince nodded curtly in thanks, and then turned and left the library, locking up. She trusted the ghost could make their own way out.

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The door shut with a click. It was locked. She knew it would be locked at night. But that was okay. She was able to walk through the walls now. Still, she hesitated… her mind still clung to the thought that she would crash into the wall, even though she had gone through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾ plenty of times.

She didn't feel like a ghost, not like someone who had died- no… she **mustn't** think like that.

She wasn't dead. Not really. She could still hear her heart beating… although it was faint. Her body was alive. She just… didn't know where it was. She was a spirit without its body.

She was Hermione Granger.


	2. How it all began

Chapter One- How it began

**A/N:**** I'm so happy at the reaction this story has gotten already! I seriously doubted it would get much attention (I'm pessimistic that way) but you all proved me wrong! This chapter goes back a bit to shed a light on what happened to make Hermione… Well, how she was in the first chapter. I hope you like it, even though it is again very short! Let's all pray to Merlin and J.K. that the chapters will become longer.**

**(P.S: Does anybody know what Hermione's mum's name is? I've looked in the books and on the Harry Potter Wiki, but I couldn't find it…)**

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_No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. _~Albert Einstein

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"Hermione, are you sure you'll be fine on your own tonight?" Her mother asked, concerned, as she put on a thin cardigan and collected her leather purse.

"Of course I'll be fine, Mum." Laughed the young teenager with bushy brown hair. "The house will be firmly locked up. Besides, magic!" She fingered the vine wand in her back pocket. She wasn't meant to use magic outside of school, but she had neglected to tell her parents that. They felt safer thinking their daughter was able to protect herself. "I was thinking I could invite Ginny over, introduce her to Muggle movies. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course- but don't have too many people over, and no boys, alcohol or horror movies." Her father warned, coming down the stairs.

"Are you sure you'll be…" Hermione's mother fretted, but the girls' father cut her off with a light-hearted laugh.

"Come of it, Jean, she'll be fine. Nothing will happen." He steered his wife out of the house. "Goodnight Hermione."

"Goodnight Dad." Hermione grinned.

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After they left, Hermione quickly wrote a letter to Ginny, inviting her over, before wondering how she would send it to her. Her question was answered when a bundle of fur shot through and open window and hit her in the side of the face.

"Hello, Pig." She said tiredly, greeting her best friends' tiny, hyperactive white-faced Scops owl. "I suppose you've come to take the letter to Ginny?" Instead of answering, which was unlikely he would have anyway, the owl flew to her cupboard, and hovered there for a moment. "Or food." She rolled her eyes and found him a small treat at the very back of the cabinet. He gobbled it down, acting a lot like his master, Hermione noted. When he was done, he patiently allowed Hermione to attach her letter to his leg, before flying off into the night. Now all she had to do was wait for an answer. She curled up on her settee, and began to read the book she had bought earlier on that day.

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Around half an hour later, she put down her book, for she was getting hungry. That was when she heard the noise. It was a small click, but deafening in the silence of the house. She jumped up from her perch on the settee, and looked around. What was happening? What had that noise been?

"Hello?" Hermione called out anxiously, reaching instinctively for her wand where it lay in her back pocket. "Ginny, is that y…"

"_Stupefy!_" Hermione barely had time to gasp before she fell to the floor, rendered unconscious.

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Hermione could not open her eyes. She supposed that a spell had been cast for that purpose, so that she could not see who had cursed her. However, they had forgotten that even though she may not be able to see, she could still hear.

"So now what?" Asked one voice, unfriendly and raspy, yet very, very quiet.

"The Dark Lord did not specify." Another cold, drawling voice replied slowly. Hermione's heart stopped for a moment. She knew that voice, a voice she should have trusted beyond most others- Professor Severus Snape's… the Potions' Master at Hogwarts. He was meant to be one of the good guys, one of the few adults that Hermione knew for sure she could trust. He was in the Order of the Phoenix! Yet here he was, speaking Voldemort's official title with reverence and respect, and… and abducting her! Hermione felt truly and utterly betrayed. Over the roar of her rapid thoughts, there was a crash not so far away. "Which one of you idiotic dunderheads made that noise? If a neighbour finds us here… Go make sure they don't." Hermione heard shuffling as Deatheaters hurried to do what the double agent had commanded. When it sounded as though everyone was gone, she heard Snape mutter to her lowly, so low even she had to strain to hear.

"I'm sorry about this, Miss Granger." He whispered. Then he cast a spell that Hermione didn't quite catch the incantation of. She then felt the strangest feeling, like she was floating away from her body. Once again, she lost consciousness.

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Hermione woke again to the sound of somebody calling her name.

"Hermione? Hermione are you in here?" It was Ginny, come to watch the movie. Hermione laughed and looked around. She must have fallen asleep. Ginny was stood in the doorway, her expression a mixture of worry and anxiousness.

"Ginny, I had the strangest dream!" Hermione chuckled. "There were Deatheaters here, and it was so weird- I dreamt that Snape was a…"

"Hermione?" Ginny called out again, oblivious to what her friend had said. "Hermione, this isn't funny."

"Huh… I thought it was." Hermione shrugged, "Anyway, what movie do you want to watch?"

"Hermione? … Please, Hermione, come out. Stop playing around." Ginny pleaded. Hermione frowned- what was Ginny going on about? She was right there! Ginny looked around once more, and gasped. She ran through the room to the settee where Hermione was perched, and dropped to the floor. She picked up Hermione's dragon heartstring wand, which had been abandoned on the floor.

"Hermione…" The young ginger began to cry, bending her head to the floor. Hermione stood up, confused by the way the Weasley was acting. She looked in the faded mirror above the mantelpiece, and gave an icy, ear-splitting scream.

Staring back at her was a translucent yet shimmering ghost.

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**A/N:**** Thanks to raven-anya, blondeinblack1 and, for placing this story on Story Alert (Now known as 'following', which kind of creeps me out to some level…)**

**As well, thanks to the anonomous guest, as well as the anonomous Lazy Arabella (who, I'm guessing- and curse me if I'm wrong- is Arabella Riddle) for reviewing**

**Also, thanks to for both placing this on Story Alert and favouriting **

**Aussi, thanks to SlytherinDream98 for both placing this on Story Alert and reviewing**

**Finally, if others read it and liked, yet did not do any of these actions… Thank you as well for reading anyway!**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	3. The Slug Club

Chapter Two- The Slug Club

**A/N:**** Hello all, again! I know I only updated a few days ago (not that anybody's complaining, right?) but I thought I better do it now because I won't be able to update for a long while since I'm going on holiday soon to Orlando, so I decided that I'd post this now, then work on loads of chapter while I'm there. Thank you for all of your support on the story, it makes me happy! There may be a few spelling and grammar errors in here, because I feel strange… Sort of… Dizzy… So don't be afraid to point them out to me so I can correct them! Finally before the disclaimer and story, you will recognise most of this chapter, since 93% of the talking was taken straight from HBP. This is because I was reading the scene at the time, because I like it, and because I couldn't be bothered to write all of the things differently when J.K. had written them perfectly. This feels kind of like a filler chapter to me, but is probably important none the less, and is the last chapter that I wrote before creating a plot.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Harry Potter, and most of the speech in this chapter, which goes to J.K. Rowling and one line I think belongs to Warner Bros. or whoever did the script for the films.**

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_I am what time, circumstance, history has made of me, certainly, but I am also much more than that. So are we all. _~James A. Baldwin

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The news was all over the Daily Prophet- '_Muggleborn Friend of the Chosen One Missing: Dark Arts Involved?_'- Draco Malfoy snorted as he folded the paper over. Dark Arts were bound to be involved, his aunt had hinted as such. It was as much as that Mudblood deserved. She had always acted so stuck-up; she had believed that she was better than everybody else just because she was the teachers' pet and best friend of the Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Take-The-Hint-And-Die-Already. Well, after this… She would know her place.

But enough about that Granger. Pansy was looking at him weirdly; he could feel her gaze boring into the back of his head. He turned himself towards her and smirked, tossing the newspaper towards her. Pansy read it swiftly and sighed in satisfaction.

"No more than the Mudblood deserves." Pansy laughed, the sound grating on Draco's nerves. "Here, you said on the platform you had something to say to us." Her eyes glinted with curiosity, and Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He wished that Zabini would hurry up and return from whatever Slughorn wanted. He wished the boy to hear this as well, besides, he would, without fully realising it, take Pansy off Draco's hands. The girl delighted to goad and tease the other, which was less annoying, and more amusing, in Draco's eyes.

"Yes, however Zabini will need to hear of it as well." Draco replied nonchalantly, "I am not the type to repeat myself, am I?"

"I suppose you aren't." Pansy tittered, and turned around in her seat to face two other Slytherin girls, Daphne and Astoria Greengrass. They began to gossip and giggle, acting as if they were each two years younger. Draco turned his attention to the task at hand, the task that had been entrusted to him by his Lord, the Evil One, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Well, two tasks, if you were to think about it properly. Task One: To let Deatheaters inside the school. Task Two: To kill Albus Dumbledore. It would be best to do it in that order. But how exactly was he going to do it? He wasn't sure… He heard a click, and the slide of a door. The blonde boy looked up. Good, Zabini was back. Just as he was closing it, however, it flung open, and Zabini fell onto Goyle's lap. Draco started sniggering as the two growled at each other like feral dogs. Still guffawing, he lay back onto Pansy's lap, who immediately began to stroke his hair. It was good to feel loved.

"So, Zabini, what did Slughorn want?" Draco asked, trying to make conversation.

"Just trying to make up to well-connected people." Zabini said, still glowering at Goyle. "Not that he managed to find many." Draco frowned… Well-connected people, but not him?

"Who else had he invited?"

"McLaggen from Gryffindor."

"Yeah, his uncles' big in the Ministry…"

"Someone else called Belby, from Ravenclaw-"

"Not him, he's a prat!" Pansy groaned.

"And Longbottom, Potter and that Weasley girl." Draco shot up from his comfortable perch, confused.

"He invited Longbottom?"

"Well, I assume so, as Longbottom was there."

"What's Longbottom got to interest Slughorn?" Zabini shrugged. "Potter, precious Potter, obviously he wanted a look at the Chosen One," sneered Draco, "but that Weasley girl! What's so special about her?"

"A lot of boys like her," Pansy said slyly, "Even you think she's good-looking, don't you, Blaise, and we all know how hard you are to please!"

"I wouldn't touch a filthy little blood traitor like her whatever she looked like." Snarled Blaise. Pansy smirked at his angry expression, and pulled Draco back down onto her lap so she could continue stroking him longingly.

"Well, I pity Slughorns' taste." Draco commented. "Maybe he's gone a bit senile." He sighed. "Shame, my father always said he was a good wizard in his day. My father used to be a bit of a favourite of his. Slughorn probably hasn't heard I'm on the train, or-"

"I wouldn't bank on an invitation." Zabini chuckled, "He asked me about Nott's father when I first arrived, they used to be old friends apparently, but when he heard he'd been caught at the Ministry he didn't look happy, and Nott didn't get an invitation, did he? I don't think Slughorn's interested in Deatheaters."

Not interested in Deatheaters? Draco was fuming inside. The man was clearly senile. Deatheaters were the future. Deatheaters were the way forward. Deatheaters were survival… Draco chuckled under his breath. Deatheaters survived… Nobody else.

"Well, who cares what he's interested in?" Draco shrugged, making out like it was no big deal. "What is he when you come down to it? Just some stupid teacher." Draco yawned, and decided to slip a hint to their conversation. "I mean, I might not even be at Hogwarts next year, what's it to me if some fat old has-been likes me or not?"

"What do you mean; you might not be at Hogwarts next year?" Pansy all but shrieked, freezing and looking at him in horror.

"Well, you never know…" Draco smirked softly, "I might have- er- moved on to bigger and better things." He was satisfied at the reaction he got of his clique. Crabbe and Goyle's mouths were open in awe. Pansy was frozen in shock. Even Zabini, as indifferent as he usually was, was looking mildly curious.

"Do you mean… _them_?" Pansy asked slowly. Draco shrugged.

"Mother wants me to complete my education, but personally, I don't see it as that important these days. I mean, think about it… When the Dark Lord takes over, is he going to care how many O. or N.E. anyone's got? Of course he isn't… Just look at Granger! Highest achiever in our year, but where is she now?" Draco chuckled, and a flash of a proud smirk appeared on Pansy's face.

"What do you mean, Malfoy?" Zabini asked.

"Haven't you seen the Daily Prophet, Blaise?" Pansy purred vindictively. "I'd have thought a well-brought-up pureblood like you would make it your business to learn the news…"

"I've been in Italy all summer; it wasn't high on my to-do list." Zabini growled, his eyes flashing.

"Granger's gone missing." Draco explained. "The papers suspect involvement by the Dark Arts…" He laughed. "They're all stupid. Think about it- Potter's best friend goes missing- Of course there's going to be Dark Arts involved!"

"Are you saying… The Dark Lord has… Got the Mudblood?" Pansy asked breathlessly.

"One does not tell the Dark Lords secrets, Pansy." Draco smirked, tapping the side of his nose. He looked out of the blackened window. "I can see Hogwarts. We'd better get our robes on."

As they all fumbled to get their cloaks on, Draco paused. He was sure he'd heard a small gasp from above him on the luggage rack. He looked up and frowned. He could have sworn he'd seen a… lightning… scar? He quickly fastened the buttons on his clock, and averted his gaze. He looked over to Pansy, who was waiting for him, holding her hand out expectantly.

"You go on." Draco told her. "I want to check on something." She left, albeit reluctantly, and Draco waited until the room was empty before closing the compartment door and pulling the blinds shut. He smirked as he leant over his trunk, fingering his wand. Then he span, pointing his wand at the seemingly empty space, yelling '_petrificus totalus!_'. He could have laughed as Potter's invisibility cloak slipped off him and he fell to the floor, on his knees, right in front of Dracos' feet.

"Didn't Mummy ever tell you it was rude to eavesdrop, Potter?" Draco snorted a mirthless laugh. "Oh, right. She was dead before you could wipe the drool off your chin. Suppose you wanted to see if anyone here had news on your precious Mudblood?" He watched him for a moment, considering the so-called Chosen One. "You didn't hear anything I care about, Potter. But while I've got you here…" He stomped hard, on Potter's face, and almost laughed out loud when he heard the satisfying crunch of the boys nose breaking and he watched as blood spurted all over the be-spectacled boys face. "That was from my father." Without another word he covered Potter back up, collected his belonging, and left the room, treading on the boys fingers and muttering lowly, "Have a nice trip back to London, Potter."

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**A/N:**** Okay, then, thank yous:**

**Thank you to Lottiluu92, chasingpavements26 and iceecream456, for deciding to follow this story.**

**Thank you to CrazyAvidReader for favouriting this story. **

**Thank you to Pheobe Arocis for deciding to follow this story, and for reviewing.**

**Thank you Arabella Song (you changed your name!) for deciding to follow this story and for reviewing.**

**Lastly, thank you to Sophia Lena Duchannes Riddle for favouriting, deciding to follow this story and for reviewing!**

**I write your name if you alert your presence to me, so do so by reviewing!**

**Comix**

_**P.S: Just a thought… If I was to create a Facebook Page for people who wanted to see what I was up to and why I wasn't updating (or stuff like that), would you like it? Or would you think it was a stupid and narcissist idea?**_


	4. Hermione's Prediciment

Chapter Three- Hermione's Predicament

**A/N:**** Hello all! Am back from my holiday now and asdfghjk I missed my dog so much! His name is Kaiser Padfoot, named after the Kaiser Chiefs and, well, Padfoot. WAHOO! Am also getting slightly hyper… I came back to the internet, logged onto my G-mail account, and spent the whole of yesterday catching up on awesomness! Thank you for all of the epic reviews! I have created the page; I named it The Order of The Pen. If you're a hardcore writer and want to join, just tell me and I'll try and work out how to make you an admin.**

**(Also, I just went to look at my fanfiction page, typed in my author name into search, and I saw me- there's only one Comix and Co after all, and there was one story only there. I was like asdfghjk, but then everything was okay because I realised that I was on fictionpress instead of fanfiction. Easy mistake, right?)**

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_All personal achievement starts in the mind of the individual. Your personal achievement starts in your mind. The first step is to know exactly what your problem, goal or desire is. _~ W. Clement Stone

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Hermione sat at the end of the age-old, wooden Gryffindor table, bored out of her mind. She had realised quickly that nobody alive could see or hear her; that she was invisible to the world. She could pick up things, but she couldn't eat or drink- she didn't need to. _Focus, _she told herself, _Listen to what Dumbledore is saying, it could be important. _She looked up at the old, bearded and wise man. He couldn't see her any more than anyone else could, even though he was an extremely talented wizard. He was talking about the new staff arrangements. Even though Hermione wasn't attending classes anymore, she still wanted to pay attention.

She gasped, like the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students in the Great Hall, as Dumbledore announced that Severus Snape had been appointed Defence against the Dark Arts Professor. Snape had been one of the ones who'd kidnapped her, he'd separated her from her body- he was a Deatheater! And Dumbledore trusted him; Dumbledore had let him become a Professor who would specialise in the Dark Arts, and teach young, malleable students its potential? She groaned softly. Maybe the headmaster, however sensible he had been throughout his life, had gone senile in his old age. She drifted out of the wide hall, uninterested. She was halfway to the library, her safe haven, when she had an epiphany… The living couldn't see her, that was true, but she hadn't thought of the dead, the ghosts who haunted Hogwarts- Peeves, Myrtle, Nearly Headless Nick, The Grey Lady, The Bloody Baron, and The Fat Friar, not to mention all the others! However, Hermione knew that she couldn't test her new theory, sadly, for all of the ghosts were in the Great Hall, for the Welcoming Feast, and Hermione didn't want to cause a scene. Hermione sighed, then another thought came to her- there was one more helpful ghost wasn't at the feast, one ghost was _never_ at the feast…

"MYRTLE!" She yelled, turning on her heel and floating excitedly to the moping teenage ghost's haunt- the girls' bathroom. As always, it was cold in the room, the door to the Chamber of Secrets lay closed, its snake-embossed tap stiff and shining ominously from the bright, lazy moonlight that shone from a nearby, arched window. Another tap near it dripped every so often, and its sound reverberated around the room loudly. The ghost in question, Moaning Myrtle, was lying on a singular stone beam above Hermione's head, sighing to herself. Her glasses where at the very bridge of her nose, and her two bunched hung down either side of the beam, pointing towards the floor. The ghosts hands where behind her head, cushioning them from the hard stone beneath, and her legs where crossed over each other. Her eyes were slightly closed, and her lips smiled slightly. When Hermione floated up to meet Myrtle, her nose twitched, but the girl didn't seem to notice her, inside her own little, possibly Harry-obsessed world. After waving her arms, pulling faces, and doing millions of other things, Hermione sighed and decided that Myrtle wouldn't notice her, since her eyes were half closed anyway. So, Hermione defaulted to speaking.

"Myrtle." Even though Hermione's voice had not been loud, or shocking, in Hermione's opinion, the once relaxed teenage ghost shrieked and lost her balance, falling off the beam. She fell quickly, and would have smashed into the floor if she had not caught herself and floated around an inch off the floor. Her eyes were wide and scared, her mouth in an 'o' of horror.

"Whose there?" She called out, looking fearful. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here." Hermione replied, floating down to Myrtle's level. Her voice was calm and level, in contrast to Myrtles' which was high pitched and freaked out.

"Where!?" Myrtle called, spinning around in a circle to look around her.

"I'm right in front of you." Hermione pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"Is this a trick? Is that you, Peeves? Why are you playing a trick on me!?" Myrtle was crying now, overworked. Hermione frowned. Myrtle could hear her, but why couldn't she see her? She reached her hand out to try and calm the poor, frightened ghost.

"I'm not playing a trick on you, Myrtle, honestly. It's me, it's Her-" Hermione's voice was smooth, and calming, but it only succeeded in pushing Myrtle over the edge.

"Go away! Go away!" She screeched, flying to her toilet as fast as she could and diving down it. The water inside splashed against the rim for a moment before settling back down. Hermione gasped, and debated whether she should follow the girl, but eventually decided against it.

"She couldn't see me… Nobody can see me…" She whispered. Disheartened, Hermione floated through the cold castle. The Welcoming Feast had ended, and now the Prefects and the Head Boy were leading excited yet tired first years to their common rooms. Their expressions told her that they would rather the eleven year olds would calm down, but everybody could tell they would not, and who could blame them? They were suddenly a part of something magical, something beyond Muggles' fanciful imagination. She shivered as an oblivious fourth year rushed through her to catch up with his friends.

"What really happened to your nose?" Hermione heard Ron's voice, and quickly floated to catch up with him before she recalled he wouldn't notice her. Ron was walking up the staircases with Harry, the two deep in an enthralling conversation. However, Hermione didn't listen to the boys' conversation, preferring just to be in their company again. Then, she heard Malfoys' name mentioned… he had done _what_?! "I saw Malfoy miming something to do with a nose!"

"Yeah, well, never mind that…" said Harry bitterly, pulling his friend behind a tapestry, where they wouldn't be overheard by anybody but the ghost of their friend haunting them. "Listen to what he was saying before he found out I was there…" Hermione stopped listening, not caring what Harry had listened, really. But listening to them had reminded her of something, had given her a purpose. Her best friends… She had to get her body back for them, if nothing else. But… How would she get it back?

By researching in the library. Duh! She headed that way, hoping that Madam Prince wouldn't walk in while she was there- floating books would be strange, even in Hogwarts.

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**A/N:**** Small chapter, I know. Next one is epicer, I think...**

**Thanks to Lumos Duo, Ironfey13, drakyu, , cherryweasley1998, midnight03 and Pucksprincess22 for following.**

**Thanks to cherryweasley1998, brenluvshp, midnight03 and Pucksprincess22 for favouriting.**

**Thanks to , Sophia Lena Duchannes Riddle, Lottiluu92, Cherryweasley1998, Arabella Song (Maybe…), ironfey13 and SlytherinDream98 (sorry to disappoint, hope this had less Rowling content, and more Hermione content for you. Thankfully I only have a few moments that will be fully copied out.) for reviewing.**

**You all receive digital cookies!**

**Comix**


	5. HOLY MERLIN!

Chapter Four- Holy Merlin!

**A/N:**** This was meant to come out earlier this week, but during editing (shoving in descriptions, making the grammar I notice correct and finding a quote) I discovered a lack of quoteness, and I couldn't find one until today. Anywhoos, here's the next chapter.**

**Before I go, I just realised from now on the chapters won't focus on just one person (Hermione or Draco), and I refer to them differently as I focus on the other, for example, if I'm focusing on Draco, his thoughts and whatnot, he will be called Draco, and Hermione will be called Granger, or possibly Mudblood, but if I'm focusing on Hermione's thoughts and whatnot, she will be called Hermione, and he will be called Malfoy. As soon as they become on first name basis- which I hope will be soon because it's confusing, but at the same time don't because I have a plan for this story and a too-soon first-name basis will mess it all up- the story will just refer to them by their names.**

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_A sudden bold and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open _~Francis Bacon

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It was one of Draco Malfoy's many free periods. Before the summers' events, his ideal way to spend this allotted time was to finish his dreaded homework, as quickly as he could, then relax about the Black lake with his companions (Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, and quite often Pansy and her giggling friends) in the dying warmth, before the castle and its Scottish environment succumbed to the freezing winds of winter.

Now though, of course, he was sat in the dreary, musty library, staring down at an almost blank, peach-coloured, crumpled piece of parchment. At the top was the title: '_Plan_', in Draco's semi-elegant handwriting. The rest of the parchment was split into two columns- the left was entitled '_Dumbledore_', and the right '_Deatheaters_'. Underneath the latter, was a short note…

'_Hint about Vanishing Cabinet in Hogwarts. Find, repair, and link it to the one at Borgin and Burkes_'

Draco sighed, his quill hovering over the parchment. How was he going to do this? _How _was he going to do _this_? He had no plan, no success criteria, no method… All of this was just a big blank! He circled his only option lightly, gritting his teeth, and decided to work on it. That would be… something… at least. Another thought crossed his mind- how would he kill Dumbledore? Draco hated to admit it, but he wasn't fully ready to show the Wizarding World his allegiances just yet, especially by assassinating the beloved headmaster Albus Dumbledore. He'd have to use a sneaky method, like a poison, or a curse… _Perhaps I should ask Aunt Bellatrix if she has any ideas… _Draco sighed once more, and looked around him. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Madame Prince was keeping records over by her mahogany, stationary desk, looking up every so often to survey the library with hawk eyes, and there were a bunch of third year Hufflepuffs gossiping over by a table not so far away from Draco. Every so often one of them would look over at Draco and catch his solemn, grey eyes. She would look at him watching her watching him, before she turned back around to her friends, blushing and giggling. He rolled his eyes at their antics. Over at the far end of the library, Draco spied Grangers' frizzy brown hair bobbing as she stood on her tiptoes to select a very old and big tome to read. She checked the title, groaned in frustration, and heaved the book back up to its place. Draco snorted; shouldn't Granger have heard the phrase 'Don't judge a book by its cover' by now? Since she was such a demented bookworm… He looked over to his left, where some Ravenclaws were avidly discussing Gamps' law with invigorated and loud voices. Suddenly Draco swivelled his gaze back to the bookcase and almost yelled at what he had seen earlier. He had seen Granger in the Hogwarts' library, but Granger wasn't at Hogwarts. Nobody knew where Granger was. He looked around to try and figure out where he'd seen her… Oh, look, now she had gone. Was Draco hallucinating? He breathed heavily, before a thought came to him. He got up and hurried to the other side of the bookshelf, but the Mudblood was nowhere to be seen. Draco groaned softly. If all this wasn't enough, now he was going crazy…

* * *

Hermione was engrossed in her novel. It didn't explain exactly what was happening to her, in fact it wasn't in her topic at all, it was a young adult vampire romance novel, but there was something about it… Something addictive and attracting. An unknown object went through her and she lost her focus, shivering. She looked up to see the sometimes fierce, but kindly librarian, Madam Prince, standing above her.

"It is time for the library to close. Please put your book back and leave for the night." Madam Prince said softly, keeping her voice level.

"Can you see me, Madam Prince?" Hermione whispered excitedly, overjoyed somebody could see her, before realising sadly that the middle-aged woman could just see a random, floating book. Hermione sighed, closed it, and put it back on its shelf.

"Thank you." Madame Prince nodded, and left the room, locking the wooden front doors behind her. Hermione braced herself and walked through the wall. She then began to wander around the cold, silent school, lost in her own depressing thoughts… She slid down onto the floor and sat there, her knees scrunched up by her face. She began to hum a song her mother had taught her as a child, wet tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. It was hopeless… Nobody could see her, Myrtle could hear her, but she couldn't be much help…

"Granger?"

"What do _you_ want, Malfoy?" Hermione asked thickly, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Come to gloat, I bet? Well you can…" She looked up, startled, at the shocked silver-haired pureblood. "Malfoy!" She stood up, floating a tiny bit away from the ground. She reached her hand out to him apprehensively. "Can you… see me?" The adolescent boy stared for a second, his grey eyes wide.

"HOLY MERLIN!" Malfoy yelled loudly, and ran off as fast as he could, which was pretty fast. Hermione sighed again and slid back to the floor, knowing better than to go after him.

She put her head in her hands and groaned. "Great. As if my situation wasn't enough, now my only hope is… Malfoy. Malfoy is the only one who can help me."

* * *

**A/N:**** And there's another chapter done. Now onto the thanks!**

**Thanks to Rin-anne, emberlily, Bookz24 and luna and the marauders rock for following.**

**Thanks to wcmmppflfgg and luna and the marauders rock for favouriting.**

**Thanks to wcmmppflfgg (I believe I answered your questions in the pm), and luna and the marauders rock (thank you!) for reviewing.**

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**~Comix**


	6. Promises

Chapter Five- Promises

**A/N:**** I'm back! And I'm back early! You can all thank this to wcmmppflfgg, who reviewed with quite a few questions, which I believe many of you are probably asking yourself.**

**Hermione can walk through walls, like a ghost. However, she is not a ghost, though I keep calling her one for lack of a better word. She is, instead, her soul or spirit or something like that. For this reason, if she focuses, she can pick up things and hug people.**

**I think that pretty much covers it, but if you do have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask, and I'll PM you, answering the best I can. Now onto the story!**

* * *

_We promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears. _~Francois de La Rochefoucauld

* * *

Hermione tried to be as quiet as she could as she stealthily followed Malfoy. Yesterday he had seemed to be coming back from somewhere secret, and she wanted to see where he'd gone. Hermione hid behind a corner as Malfoy passed back and fore impatiently by an innocent wall… No... Not innocent… This was where the Room of Requirement was! But what was Malfoy doing going there? What could he want with the Room of Requirement? The door materialised, and Malfoy laughed quietly. He opened the door, and Hermione followed quickly, not wanting to be left behind. Looking around, she almost gasped. The room was the size of a large cathedral, and long windows let in light that shone down on what seemed to be skyscrapers, but where really thousands of hidden and lost objects, left by Hogwarts students over the years. There were broken and vandalised tables and chairs, books, no doubt banned from the school syllabus… There where Fanged Frisbees and catapults with wings on, and at least seven swords and a single, blood-stained axe. Then, of course, where the lost items, the bottled potions, the hats and cloaks, the expensive jewels. Shaking her head, Hermione followed Malfoy through the city of old things, before he stopped and groaned audibly, pulling from his cloak pocket a torn picture of what seemed to be a Vanishing Cabinet. The arrogant pureblood frowned.

"Malfoy…" Hermione said; her voice small and apprehensive. She still wasn't sure if she should do this…

"Granger." Malfoy replied without turning. "So I wasn't hallucinating then? Funny, I could have sworn that I was having a nightmare the minute I saw your garish Mudblood face."

"Stuff it Malfoy." Hermione hissed venomously, rolling her eyes, before she leant forward to curiously inspect the paper. "Is that a Vanishing Cabinet?"

"Yes." He replied after a short pause.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"You mean, if I find it?" Malfoy scoffed. His voice was cold. Hermione floated nearer to him and the picture. She trailed a finger over the lines of the picture, absently. Malfoy muttered under his breath, "What do you want, Granger?"

Hermione debated the answer. She wanted her body back, of course, and she needed help with that. But she couldn't- she _wouldn't_ just turn around and force him to help her, it would be rude and insensitive, not to mention against all Hermione felt she stood for. The act would have to be returned somehow… "I want to help."

"What?" Malfoy burst out laughing, and did so for a few minutes before calming down. "Granger, what help could _you_ possibly be to _me_?"

"I can still pick things up." Hermione snapped defensively, picking up a coat to prove her case. "And nobody else can see me…" A look of sadness flashed across her face. "Nobody else can see me but you. I- I'd be able to work during the night and I'd never get caught."

"Thanks, but no thanks." Malfoy turned away. "Something I've learnt is that people always want something in return. Also, you should never trust a Gryffindor." Draco snorted. "Besides, I don't need help."

"Yes you do."

"No, Granger, _I don't_. Especially from a stuck-up, insufferable know-it-all Mudblood like you." Hermione winced, then grabbed his left wrist and turned him around.

"Malfoy…"

"Get off!" He snapped harshly, jerking his arm away from her. His sleeve rolled up a couple inches, and exposed a tiny bit of ink… Hermione's eyes widened and she reached for his arm again. "I said, _get off_!" But it was too late; Hermione had pulled the sleeve all the way up to reveal a skull which had a snake slithering out of its mouth. Hermione floated a step back.

"The… Dark… Mark?" Hermione spoke slowly. "Malfoy… What?"

"Granger, I said get off…" Malfoy's voice was a low and menacing growl.

"Holy Merlin…" She closed her eyes, and then opened them again. She was slowly fading out of view, to another place, and her voice matched her action. "I thought you were better than that, Malfoy… The others think the worst of you but I thought…" She was gone.

"Granger… Bloody Hell…" Malfoy grumbled, turning and going off to find her, his mission to find the Vanishing Cabinet over.

* * *

"Granger?" She was leaning on the rail of the Astronomy Tower, or at least she seemed to be. She didn't look at Draco, instead choosing to stare at the Quidditch pitch quite some distance away, where Gryffindor was holding try-outs.

"What happened to you Malfoy?" She asked him, her voice soft, with a touch of regret. "I mean, you were always a bully, but not… not _this_. What did he say, what could he have possible have said that made the offer seem _so_ tempting you couldn't refuse it?"

"I didn't have a choice, Granger." Draco replied, joining Granger at the edge.

"Everybody has a choice." She whispered. He turned to her, his grey eyes glinting with anger, and was that… hurt?

"My father failed him. My choice?" He laughed bitterly. "My choice was to join him, or watch my mother die a painful death before the wand was turned on me. What would you have done? My mother is everything to me, Granger. _Everything_. To watch her die…"

"What does he want you to do?" Hermione questioned.

"Why? What do you care? You'd probably just go and tattle to your stupid, idiotic friends anyway." Draco mumbled, turning and walking away. When he didn't see Granger follow, he turned again.

"I do care." She was right in front of him.

"HOLY MERLIN!" Draco shrieked, jumping back. "Merlin, Granger, don't… Don't do that!" He clutched his chest dramatically.

"I do care. I care very much, and they can't hear me. There would be no use in telling them what you're up to. I want to help you."

"I don't need your help."

"Yes you do, Malfoy, even if you won't admit it yourself. What does he want you to do?"

Draco grumbled. "I'm not going to tell you."

"Look, I'll tell you what happened to me if you tell me what he wants you to do." Granger propositioned.

"I couldn't care less what happened to you!" Draco scoffed, laughing loudly.

"You… You… URGH!" She yelled in frustration, pushing him hard. He yelled and lost his balance, flipping over the edge. Granger screamed, and dived for his hand.

"Granger! Holy… Get me out of here! Stupid Mudblood, are you trying to kill me?!" Draco cried, grabbing onto the railing.

"I…" Her eyes were wide, her pupils small in fear. She pulled on his hand with all her might, until, with effort from him as well; he was back on solid ground. "Oops?"

"Oops? _Oops_?! You push me off the flipping _Astronomy Tower_ and all you say if OOPS!?" Draco breathed, lain on a huddle on the floor. After a moment of silent he said, "He wants me to get Deatheaters into Hogwarts."

"Oh. That's why you need the Vanishing Cabinet, huh?"

"Yes… What happened to you?"

"Deatheaters kidnapped me and Professor Snape split my body from my soul." Granger explained.

"What are you going to do about it?" Draco asked, standing up. She looked at him.

"I don't know… Find out how he did it, and then reverse it? I'm not even used to… to this!" She groaned and ran her hands through her hair.

"I'll tell you what," Draco whispered, shocking even himself by his soft tone. "I'll help you, if you help me."

She was silent for a moment, and then she looked at him.

"Okay."

"Promise Granger?" She faded into thin air, and Draco looked around for her. He smiled despite himself when he heard her say…

"I promise."

* * *

**A/N:**** Thanks to Kaliana Silver, MagicalDNGirl, toritarxx, StarkidFangirlFullOfRandomne ss (awesome name, by the way!) and LadyEm2 for following.**

**Thanks to Kaliana Silver for favouriting.**

**Thanks to Kaliana Silver, Arabella Song (To which I answer: All ghosts can hear Hermione, however, I think Myrtle will be the only one who really comes around in the story. Glad you love the story!), lovealan, emberlily (and here is the poppyseed muffin you wished for!) StarkidFangirlFullOfRandomne ss, Sophia Lena Duchannes Riddle and wcmmppflfgg (Hope I answered all your questions earlier!)**

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	7. When in doubt

Chapter Six- When in doubt…

**A/N:**** Hi all! I started school last week- did anybody know just how hard Physics was? Definatley not me, which reminds me I have to do that homework… My teacher told me before summer we were reading Of Mice and Men, so I bought the book, but then she said that we would read To Kill A Mockingjay, and at first I was angry, but then I remembered Beautiful Creatures, one of my favourite books, talked about it so I was happy. Either way, here is the next chapter.**

* * *

_A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life._ ~Henry Ward Beecher

* * *

Draco found himself wondering what had happened to him, because he had recently noticed that he had changed dramatically in the past hours. For Merlin's sake, he was standing in front of the library, waiting for it to open! This, this was something he would never, _never_ do… The Ravenclaws must have realised this, because they were staring at him strangely out of the corner of their eyes, as if they were carefully assessing one who had just come out of a long-term hospitalization in St. Mungo's… Draco tapped his foot impatiently, yet kept his calm and Malfoy composure, and did not rush when the doors finally opened. He spotted Granger instantly, at the back of the library. She was floating next to a table that was stacked with books.

"Granger." He nodded curtly as he arrived at her selected table.

"Malfoy!" She greeted, far too chirpily for a Sunday morning. "Okay, so I've found plenty of books on Vanishing Cabinets, and… well… whatever this is." She gestured to her almost translucent body. "So you look through these…" She tapped the books on the left, "and I'll check these." She pointed to the books on the right.

"Fine." Draco rolled his eyes, and sat down in a wooden chair next to the book laden table. Bored already, he picked up the first book.

Half an hour later, Draco slammed his book down on the desk, earning several glares from the nearby Ravenclaws, who had been studying peacefully until Draco had so rudely interrupted.

"I can't do this, Granger." He complained, scowling at her. "I don't even know what fully happened."

"What do you mean?" Granger replied calmly, fingering the page of her book and looking up at him with her big brown eyes- brown like mud, of course, which reflected her blood.

"I mean, how can I find the counter curse when I don't understand the spell." He glowered at the ghost girl, who narrowed her eyes at him.

"I don't know the spell either, Malfoy," she hissed, shooting him a dirty, yet slightly hurt look. "I thought I'd told you. My eyes wouldn't open, and Snape muttered the spell so low I couldn't hear it. This is the book you'll need." She handed him a yellow and black book labelled '_Vanishing Cabinets for The Average Hufflepuff_'. "Now, if you're not going to at least try to be civil with me, I'm leaving." She turned away from him.

"… Granger?"

"_WHAT_?!"

"… I'm not a Hufflepuff."

"URGH!" Granger shrieked loudly in exasperation, far loudly than she'd have dared if others but Draco could have heard her. She disappeared, and Draco huffed at the spot where she had been before waving his wand towards the books, and putting them back where they were meant to be, and leaving as well.

* * *

Hermione appeared beside her best friends' bedside. He'd fallen asleep reading, again. Hermione gave a dry chuckle. It felt strange to say that. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, had fallen asleep reading. It was the same book again- what was so special about the old book anyway? It was a normal textbook- an average book, though aged, to be used in sixth year Potions, no less, no more. She carefully slotted the book from his grasp and opened it to the first page.

"'This_ book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince._'" Hermione read aloud. "The Half-Blood Prince? Who is that? It doesn't sound like the kind of name Harry would give himself, and it can't be Ronald… He's a pureblood…" Intrigued, Hermione began to flick through the pages. Around potion methods, the Prince had written changes and corrections that Hermione didn't doubt work. "So _this_ is how Harry's suddenly so good at Potions…" Hermione shot a glare at her sleeping friend, before going back to the book, perching on the trunk at the end of his bed. Every so often she would come across spells in the margin, that she would never trust one bit. "Sectumsempra… For enemies… I don't like the sound of that." Around half way, she stopped. Something had caught her eye.

"_Anima Remotionem_- to separate the soul from the body. For more information see 'Paranormalcy in The Wizarding World: Ghosts A-Z' by Roland Finch- edition one. Restricted section." Hermione gave an uncharacteristic squeal as she recited what Harry's old textbook read. This Prince person was sketchy, but never mind that! This was what they had been looking for, what she and Malfoy had rowed over! No wonder they hadn't found it today, they hadn't been looking in the right place! She _had_ to tell Malfoy!

* * *

"Malfoy! Malfoy!" Draco groaned and rolled over in his sleep. "Wake up! Malfoy! Malfoy!" Everything was quiet, and he smirked, thinking the annoying intruder had gone.

"MALFOY!" Draco shrieked and fell off his bed with a loud thud. Theodore Nott, from his bed to the left of Draco's, sat up grumpily.

"Whappened?" He mumbled.

"I… uh… I had a nightmare." Draco lied once he had calmed down. "I dreamt a Mudblood was stalking me."

"Well, have a quieter nightmare next time." Theo snapped sleepily, lying back down into his emerald sheeted bed.

When Draco was sure his roommate had fallen back asleep, he turned to glare icily at the translucent spirit who had woken him.

"Granger, what the-" His eyes flashed with anger.

"I have good news, Malfoy!" Granger reported, twirling around in the air.

"And it could wait until morning because…" Draco raised his eyebrows grumpily, climbing back into his bed. Granger acted as if she couldn't hear him, and Draco snorted. _How ironic…_

"I've found out what Snape's done to me!"

"And now I can go back to bed, right?"

"No." She frowned, and then continued. "There's more about it in a book." Draco raised his eyebrows. "In the Restricted Section." _Of course._

"So… Go read it. Or is the Gryffindor to scared to go out in the dark without the big brave Slytherin?" He mocked, turning over so he didn't have to look at her. She moved around his bed so she could look at him, and he scowled at her.

"This is something we should do together."

"Then it can wait until morning."

"In the morning you can't sneak in!"

"I'll get permission, Granger, like a _normal person_." Granger snorted.

"Yeah, right. Because you're a normal person. Besides, who would give _you_ permission to go into the Restricted Section?"

"Snape."

"Urgh…" Granger groaned, and pulled Draco out of bed. "Stop arguing. We are going to do this whether you like it or not, and we will do it together!"

As Granger dragged Draco out of the room, you could hear Draco grumble quietly, "You sound like my mother."

"_WHAT_?!"

"Nothing… Nothing…"

* * *

After around half an hour, as the distant Hogwarts bells chimed two, Draco and his spiritual companion stood in the middle of the Restricted Section. Draco held a large, dusty tome in his hands.

"This is it then?" He sounded bored.

"According to my source, yes. I'd go straight to the glossary and search…" Granger began to advise, but Draco cut her off.

"I know how to use a book, Granger." He snapped, turning to the correct page with a flourish of his wand. "And you know there's a spell for that, right?" The spectre rolled her brown eyes, and Draco read out the introductory paragraph.

"Soul Removal, for years it has been a lost magical art, which many have wished to master. First used in the medieval ages, magical beings used it in the Darkest of ways. Whether it was to get rid of competition, or to replace those people where jealous of, _Anima Remotionem_ was the easiest way, when not wanting to commit murder, of course. _Anima Remotionem_ is the act of taking ones soul and ripping it from the victim's body, possibly like a Dementor would. However, the body does not continue as a hollow shell, instead it turns into a deep slumber that can only be awoken by a soul entering the body once more.

"A soul? Any soul? Is this book saying that at any time a soul could… could possess my body?!" Shrieked Granger.

"Ow, Granger! Really, in my ear?" Draco grumbled.

"We have to find my body, Malfoy, we have to… what are you doing?" Draco. The adolescent in question, was shrinking the book, and placing it in his robe pocket.

"YOU CAN'T STEAL A LIBRARY BOOK!" Granger shrieked once more, and Draco winced at her tone.

"And why not?"

"You'll get caught, besides, it's immoral, and wrong, and…"

"If I duplo the book, I won't get caught." Draco said, taking the book out and duplifying it. He placed the copy amongst the other books, then shrunk the original and placed it back in his pocket. "Besides, do you want to get your body back or not?"

"I… I… Oh, shut up Malfoy." Granger snapped, and receded to thin air.

Thin of the ghost-like girl at last, Draco laughed shortly, before leaving, to return to the Slytherin dormitories. He then continued his interrupted slumber, giving neither the book nor Granger another thought.

* * *

**A/N:**** Okay, onto thanks!**

**Thanks to moonlight fire xx, Rose-Blue775, Dark Goddess109, awesomerthanyou555 and LookingforNirvana for following.**

**Thanks to Poppy Popyncourt and Pho1297 for favouriting.**

**Thanks to luna and marauders rock (it's not so much that she can fly, it's more like randomly floating and not being able to stand on the ground for some reason ghost-like things never be able to, and yes, you may have a digital cookie!), Kaliana Silver (I mentioned you again! And here is your cookie! Thanks for the compliment, it made me blush!), StarkidFangirlFullOfRandomne ss (you're welcome!), Sophia Lena Duchannes Riddle (yum cookie dough) and Dark Goddess109 (thank you!) for reviewing.**

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	8. Cursed

Chapter Seven- Cursed

**A/N:**** Hello all! Wow, it's strange to think this was posted only a week ago- it feels like forever! School can do that to you… Which reminds me: Art homework. Thursday. Draw fruit. Must do.**

**Disclaimer:**** Some of this chapter has contact from Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince, chapter Twelve, pages 232-236. All of this was written by the wonderful J.K. Rowling, and I do not claim to own it. It just seemed easier than using the movie script or writing my own version… I can get really lazy sometimes (as shown since I started this chapter on Monday…)**

* * *

"_Curiosity, n. An objectionable quality of the female mind. The desire to know whether or not awoman is cursed with curiosity is one of the most active and insatiable passions of the masuline soul._" ~Ambrose Bierce

* * *

For the next few days, Hermione and Malfoy where very busy. Malfoy was combing the spiritual reference book on Hermione's instruction, and going to classes. After his first Potions lesson, he obtained Polyjuice potion (though he neglected to tell Hermione how_ and used to change Crabbe and Goyle into girls. The two dumb bodyguards would then stand outside the Room of Requirement, while Malfoy went inside to join Hermione. Inside, they would hunt for the Vanishing Cabinet that Malfoy's mother had told him about. The room was extremely large and filled with junk, so it would take them quite a while to find it. After they found it, of course, they would come to the task of fixing the Vanishing Cabinet, since facts pointed to it probably being broken.

"Granger, I'm not turning this weekend." Malfoy said as they searched the room. "Just thought you ought to know."

"Not… what?" Hermione turned to him, aghast. "Why ever not?"

"I don't know if you've noticed Granger, but every day I'm working on this. I deserve this weekend off." Malfoy reasoned. "Besides, it's Hogsmeade this weekend."

"Hogsmeade? I remember going to Hogsmeade…" Hermione sighed, and narrowed her eyes when Malfoy murmured about her sounding like an old Granny. She picked up the nearest thing to her, which happened to be a knotted wooden bowl, and threw it at him. Malfoy yelped when it collided with his back, and he turned and glared at her. "Just be glad I can't do magic now."

"You know, you're awfully wound up today, Granger." Draco commented offhandedly, rubbing his back and going back to his work. "Perhaps you should take a weekend off too, go glare at Snape for a few more hours."

"I… How do you know about that?" Hermione gasped, floating around to look at him.

"Granger, I have classes with him. Every lesson you're behind him, staring daggers at him. If looks could kill…" He peered behind a large bevelled mirror. "It's pretty distracting, actually. Quite puts me off my work."

"You say that like I care what N.E.W.T's you get." Hermione snorted.

"Well, you should at least take the weekend off. Merlin knows I could use a break from your ugly face." Hermione almost throttled him, but stopped herself, reminding herself that she needed him to help her find her body.

"Then it's agreed." Hermione said loftily. "We will not speak, or deliberately seek each other out until Monday."

"Deal."

For around half an hour they searched before Hermione grew bored, leaned against an object that was covered in a light cloth… and fell through it with a yelp. After looking around inside for a few moments, the emerged.

"Messing around Granger? Not like you, is it?" Malfoy snorted. His amused smirk irritated her immensely.

"Malfoy…" Hermione began, and pulled back the cloth with a flourish, to reveal a large cabinet. "I believe I've found your Vanishing Cabinet."

"Okay. We'll begin working on it on Monday evening."

* * *

Hermione floated into the Three Broomsticks, looking for her friends. She'd gotten off to a late start and had spent hours trying to catch up for them. _Of course, they won't be able to see me,_ Hermione thought bitterly, but she was willing to try. Even so, their company was just what she needed. She smiled as she saw them both sat down with Butterbeer. Harry had a furious expression on his face that Harry normally would never have, and Ron was busy staring at Rosmerta, as he always did. Hermione sat next to them, on an empty chair, enjoying their company, though the air around them seemed frosty. As soon as Harry had finished his cup of Butterbeer, he turned to Ron.

"Shall we call it a day and go back to school, then?" He asked Ron, who agreed.

"It isn't much fun without Hermione anyways." Ron grumbled, and Hermione felt her heart tug. How she wished she could hug him, tell him how much she missed him, and that she was right there beside him! The two followed Katie Bell, and her friend, closely followed by the now moping Hermione. None of the Golden Trio thought of the two ahead of them, each wrapped in their own problems, until they all seemed to simultaneously notice that the two were having an argument.

"It's nothing to do with you, Leanne!" Katie was yelling, as they all rounded a corner. Leanne, the girl Katie was with, made a lunge for the package Katie was carrying, almost playfully. Katie quickly tugged back, making the package fall to the ground, and that was when all hell broke loose.

Katie rose into the air gracefully, her arms outstretched as though she where about to take off and fly. Yet there was something wrong, something eerie… her hair was whipped around by the fierce wind, but her eyes were closed and her face was quite empty of expression. Harry, Ron, and Leanne halted in their tracks, watching. Hermione gingerly floated up to meet Katie, poking her and asking, "Katie? Are you okay?"

Suddenly, Katie let out a terrible scream, which caused Hermione to jump back. Her eyes flew open but whatever she could see, or whatever she was feeling, was causing her terrible anguish. She screamed and screamed; Leanne started to scream too, and sized Katie's ankles, trying to tug her back to the ground. Ron and Harry rushed forwards to help, but even as they grabbed Katie's legs, she fell on top of them; Harry and Ron managed to catch her but she was writing so much they could hardly hold her. Instead they lowered her to the ground where she thrashed and screamed, apparently unable to recognise any of them.

"Stay there!" Harry shouted at the other two he saw near him. "I'm going for help!" And he sprinted off to get help. Leanne and Ron tried to quieten Katie's harsh shrieks, Hermione just floating there behind them, not knowing quite what to do.

"Get back!" Came a gruff voice- Hagrid's- suddenly, and Harry appeared with the half-giant. "Lemme see her!"

"Something's happened to her!" Leanne sobbed, "I don't know what-" Hagrid stared at Katie for a second, then, without a word, bent down, scooped her into his hands and ran off towards the castle with her. Within seconds, Katie's piercing screams had died away and the only sound was the roar of the wind.

"Leanne, what happened?" Harry asked quickly.

"It was when the package tore," sobbed Leanne, pointing at the now sodden brown-paper package on the ground, which had split open to reveal a greenish glitter. Ron bent down, his hand outstretched, but Harry seized his arm and pulled him back.

"_Don't touch it_!" He crouched down. An ornate opal necklace was visible, poking out of the paper. "I've seen it before," said Harry, staring at the thing. "It was on display in Borgin and Burkes ages ago. The label said it was cursed. Katie must have touched it." He looked up at Leanne, who had started to shake uncontrollably. "How did Katie get hold of this?"

"Well, that's why we were arguing. She came back from the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks holding it, said it was a surprise for somebody at Hogwarts and she had to deliver it. She looked all funny when she said it… oh no, oh no, I bet she'd been Imperiused, and I didn't realise!"

Leanne shook with renewed sobs. Hermione floated over to her quickly and patted her shoulder comfortingly. Leanne shivered.

"Did she say who gave it to her?" Harry asked suspiciously, and Hermione glared at him, even though she knew he couldn't see her. Leanne was worried for her friend, and Harry was interrogating her?!

"No… she wouldn't tell me… and I said she was being stupid and not to take it up to school, but she just wouldn't listen and… and then I tried to grab it from her… and- and-" Leanne let out a wail of despair, and Hermione glared at Harry once more.

"… Let's get back up to the castle… y'know, find out about Katie…" Ron mumbled awkwardly. Harry hesitated for a moment, then pulled his scarf from around his face and, ignoring Ron's gasp, carefully covered the necklace in it and picked it up.

"We'll need to show this to Madame Pomfrey," he said.

As Hermione followed the trio up the road, Harry seemed deep in thought, and Hermione wondered what he was thinking. They had just entered the grounds when he spoke, unable to keep his thoughts to himself any longer.

"Malfoy knows about this necklace. It was in a case at Borgin and Burkes four years ago, I saw him having a good look at it while I was hiding from him and his dad. _This _is what he was buying that day when we followed him! He remembered it and he went back for it!" Hermione's eyes widened. Harry… He'd been harping on about Malfoy all year… but… Malfoy had been unusually eager to go to Hogsmeade this weekend, when he could have been getting an early start on the Vanishing Cabinet… He had been owling people back and fore, when he thought Hermione wasn't around… He'd seemed so occupied when he wasn't in the Room of Requirement… Could Harry be finally right?

* * *

"Malfoy!" Draco internally cringed at the high-pitched shriek. He checked nobody else was in the corridor before turning. "I thought we weren't talking until Monday?" He snapped to the infernal ghost that constantly haunted him.

"That was until you cursed Katie Bell."

"Wha- cursed _Bell_?" Draco raised his eyebrows.

"You heard me! You put her under the Imperius curse so that she would deliver a cursed necklace to Professor Dumbledore!" Granger yelled, and began to search for something to hit him with, as she did when she got angry with him.

"I didn't curse Bell!" Draco protested, and Granger looked at him incredulously. "What? I didn't… I wasn't able to perform the curse, so I asked my Aunt Bellatrix to perform the Imperius curse for me… Wait, how do you know about this?" Fear coursed through his veins, because Granger had been with Potter, so if Granger knew… Potter knew… And something had gone seriously wrong.

Granger told Draco everything that had happened at Hogsmeade, from start to finish. At the end, Draco sighed. _That wasn't meant to happen. It was meant to go to Dumbledore! Nobody was meant to know it was cursed until Dumbledore had been cursed by it!_

"Well, that sucks." He grumbled, masking his internal anxiety and indignation.

"Didn't you hear me Malfoy? Katie's lucky to be alive, and she isn't very far from it! You could have killed… her…" Draco could practically see Granger's mind whirring as she worked it out. When she next spoke, her voice was small. "Why are you trying to kill Professor Dumbledore?"

"Who said I was…"

"Don't lie to me, Malfoy, why are you trying to kill Dumbledore?!" Granger screamed, rushing to him suddenly. Draco stepped backwards, and stumbled, falling to the floor.

"I…"

"TELL ME!"

"Okay, alright, alright! The Dark Lord wants me to kill Dumbledore! Merlin!" Draco closed his eyes, expecting the worst, silently yelling at himself for telling her.

"Will you?" Granger whispered. "Will you kill Professor Dumbledore?"

"That's what He wants me to do." Draco said, avoiding her gaze. He got up and walked off.

By some miracle, Granger didn't follow him.

* * *

**A/N:**** Thanks to wattsnelson, moonlight fire xx, bookword1096 and Oi-isawwhutyuuhdidthar for favouriting.**

**Thanks to amaris12345, Valkarienkain, lunaxs, ProveYouExist, Hunter's Heir and aby12a for following.**

**Thanks to I ship Dramione (thank you!), moonlight fire xx (thank you and your welcome, I'm glad I made your day!), Valkarienkain (*blushes* thank you!), Sophia Lena Duchannes Riddle (oh my Godric, I didn't notice that until your pointed it out! I've been doing it all week by mistake, probably going to fail English because I keep writing the title wrong!), Pho1297 (Yes, I am a Hunger Games fanatic. I literally just found out about them this summer, read them twice, boom. Thank you!), lovealen, luna and marauders rock (here is your cookie, and you are welcome) and Kaliana Silver (You are welcome again!)**

**Free ice cream for all who review, in any flavour!**

**~Comix**


	9. Soul Mates

Chapter Eight: Soul Mates

**A/N:**** Early post! You are all so amazing! JK Rowling is amazing! Art is amazing! Pottermore is amazing! I am in a hyper and amazingish mood! … Why didn't I use amazing in my French translation homework? Nobody knows. Today in school I had finished all of my ICT work in our first lesson, and we had three that day, so for the entire second lesson I had a free lesson! So I made you guys a cover for your amazingness! Still needs work, I'm going to make Hermione more translucent. Buuut… Here's another chapter!**

**(P.S.: I did not come up with Yetisol Azurae! I asked my friends what I should call it and to give me vowels and constantans (I always thought that had a 't' on it…) and… this is what they came up. They also created the short form. So if you don't like them, blame them not me!)**

* * *

"_Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and familiarity breeds contempt. According to this my soul mate should be in Thailand._" ~Jason Zebehanzy

* * *

"Okay, so first the book says to clean it." Hermione said, reading out of the book she had found. "The outside can be cleaned any old ways, but the inside has to be cleaned with a small rag that has been dunked in lukewarm water."

"Any soap?" Malfoy asked.

"Not on the inside- the outside can be done any old ways." Hermione repeated. "You do the outside with magic, and I'll begin to do the inside, is that okay?"

"Sure." Malfoy agreed offhandedly. He conjured the necessary equipment, and they got to work quickly. As they worked, Hermione thought about things.

It had been around two weeks since Katie Bell had gotten cursed. Every other day was spent working on the Vanishing Cabinet; though Hermione had made it clear that she wouldn't help Malfoy with murder. Malfoy had been indifferent about that proclamation, and it was the nicest he had ever been to her. Eventually the two had stopped arguing, and any name-calling was classified as teasing only, and was generally light hearted. If Hermione ever said anything that she thought may have genuinely hurtful to Malfoy, she immediately and honestly apologised. When Malfoy said something that hurt Hermione's feelings, however, he didn't apologise, that wasn't his way- but he never protested when Hermione hit him with the Spanish Bible that was always seemed to be nearby, which Hermione had dubbed as 'The Holy Hitting Libro'. He avoided the jibes that involved her situation, and she never mentioned the Deatheaters in front of him- Hermione had promised Malfoy she wouldn't tell Harry and Ron what he was doing in any way… and she intended to stick to that oath. While neither she, nor he, would admit it, they had created a working truce, and maybe, just maybe, they were… allies?

Hermione smiled softly as she worked on the inside of the Vanishing Cabinet. Allies. That was the perfect way to describe their relationship. They didn't like each other, Merlin no, they were still enemies, sure, they still disliked each other, but… they tolerated each other's presence and worked together to achieve their goals. Hermione chuckled quietly as she washed out a small hole. Then she stopped, froze, and dropped the rag to the floor of the wooden cabinet, where it landed with a miniscule thump.

There was a hole.

"Everything okay in there, Granger?" Malfoy called from the outside. Hermione didn't answer him, flying instead out of the Vanishing Cabinet, and picking up the abandoned guide, flicking through the pages frantically. "Granger? You know, this partnership won't work if you can't-"

"We have a problem, Malfoy." Hermione cut him off, looking up from the book worriedly.

"Oh, do we?" Malfoy commented drily, continuing with his work. He wasn't bothered much about Hermione's thought, he had decided long ago that she overreacted to many, many things.

"There's a hole in the Vanishing Cabinet." Malfoy's head shot up, any thought before gone clear from his mind.

"What?! Show me." Malfoy commanded, dropping his things. Hermione floated to the entrance, pointing to the hole.

"There," She explained, "In there is meant to go Yetisol Azurae… Well, you know, a wooden hollow tube, preferably made of…"

"I know how to store Yeti-Zur, Granger. I pay attention in Potions, you know." Malfoy snapped, running his hand around the hole carefully. He turned his head to her. "Can the Vanishing Cabinet work without it?" Hermione flicked through the pages.

"Uh… Yes, but I wouldn't advise it." She showed him a picture that was clearly a person, having just travelled through a Vanishing Cabinet, whose limbs where bent awkwardly, and there was blood pouring from who knew where. "I suggest we get some before we continue." Hermione sighed. Draco groaned and threw his things to the floor, and cursed loudly.

"Malfoy, don't worry." Hermione said. He looked at her, raising his eyebrows sceptically. "We'll find some Yeti-Zur. Don't give up; this is just a minor bump in the road." It may have been Hermione's imagination, but she thought she detected a hint of sadness in his grey eyes. "I know where the kitchens are. We can go for ice cream if you want?"

"What's the point; you can't eat… can you?" Malfoy asked, eyeing her wearily.

"No, but that doesn't mean you can't eat some. Ice cream makes people feel better." Draco grumbled something about her not being a Healer, but followed her anyway, feeling a slight bit lucky he had not been hit by The Holy Hitting Libro for his comment.

* * *

Draco walked through Hogwarts, bored out of his mind. He couldn't sleep, too worried about how he was going to get the Yetisol Azurae. He was wandering around the fourth floor, when he saw Peeves laughing at a door.

"What are you doing, Peeves?" Draco asked, and the poltergeist turned, cackling.

"Student out of bed? Peevsie should…"

"I'm patrolling, Peeves." Draco lied smoothly, flashing the Prefect Badge he had first received last year. "And I want to know what you are up to."

"Not causing trouble, your Prefectness, only trying to cheer someone up." Peeves replied innocently. "They was crying in the brooms closet." Draco sighed to himself.

"Peeves, leave now before I call the Bloody Baron." Draco commanded, and Peeves reluctantly carried on down the hall. After a few seconds, a head appeared through the door. Granger jumped when she saw Draco leant against the wall.

"Granger. Well, thought you'd be celebrating your recent Quidditch win… Though, of course, had you let me play today, you would be celebrating your loss."

"Shut up Malfoy." Granger grumbled, turning away.

"Are you crying, Granger?" Draco chuckled. "What, missing your Gryffindor friends? … Oh." Draco raised his eyebrows. "It's Weasley, isn't it?"

"What?" Her shock proved it true, and she realised this. "Ugh, what would you know, Malfoy?" She swiped a hand at her eye, wiping a tear from it.

"I know, or at least, I'm pretty sure, that…" Draco took a deep breath. "You like Weaselbee but Brown also drools over him though I don't see why anybody would, Potter is in denial about his feelings for Weaslebee's sister who is having a rather rocky relationship with Thomas because she is also denying the feelings she once showed so admirably when she was younger towards Potter because she feels she is over him now when clearly the whole world but a select few know to back off because she is Potty's, and Potty is hers." Draco relayed all Pansy had eagerly spread through the common room since September, and then took a guess. "I'm guessing Brown got up her Gryffindor courage and snogged Weaselbee? And you are not okay with that."

"It's true." Granger sniffed. "I'm pretty sure he liked it, too."

"… I'm sorry Granger." Draco comforted half-heartedly, "Weasley is a jerk with no soul, and he wouldn't recognise his one true love if she stood in front of him waving a huge sign she had charmed to flash in all the colours of the rainbow. Did that help?"

"… Just go away, Malfoy." Granger snapped.

"Fine, fine." And Draco retreated to the Slytherin dormitories, wondering slightly why he was cursing Weaselbee under his breath, and feeling a deeper hatred for him than usual burning at the pit of his stomach…

* * *

Draco sat up in his bed. The curtains were closed, and the only light available came solely from his wand. On his lap lay the book about Granger… or at least, people like Granger. He'd decided to try and cheer her up by learning things about her situation, purely because he didn't want her sadness interfering with his work, of course. He flicked through the pages, before pausing at an interesting title around the middle of the novel.

"'Seeing souls: Why can he/she see me?' Well this sounds promising…" Draco chucked, reading the whole thing out loud quietly. "'There have been many fables from medieval history that speak of the art of Anima Remotionem. One of my particular favourites is the story of the witch Goradelia, who was in love with a young woodsman, Harold. Sadly, Harold did not love Goradelia back, because he was in love with a lovely young woman named Laurel, who worked in the nearby village. Soon Laurel and Harold were married, and that made Goradelia extremely jealous. So, in the middle of the night, Goradelia snuck into the couple's home and pushed Laurel's soul out of her body. Then, Goradelia did the same to her soul, and went inside Laurel's body. That way, Laurel could not get back into her body, and everybody thought that Goradelia was Laurel, even Harold. Laurel was left in her soul form, drifting around, until one day when Harold was in the woods; he came across Laurel's soul. Nobody, as stated earlier, can see a person when they are in soul form, yet Harold could see Laurel. Laurel told him what had happened, and, with help from a local Wiseman, they were able to cast Goradelia out of Laurel's body, and Laurel was able to get back in. The two lived happily ever after.

According to this story, nobody can see souls, except for the persons' husband. After collecting more of stories like the story of Goradelia, Harold and Laurel, I was able to unearth the theory behind the story. The only people who can see souls are the souls' other half, the persons… soul… mate..'"

When he reached the end, he looked up at the end of the bed, his grey eyes widened in shock.

"The reason why I can see Granger… is because I'm Granger's… Granger and I… are… soul mates?"

* * *

**A/N:**** OH MY GOD! Did you guys see that coming? *looks at title* Uh… Maybe you did. But Draco didn't!**

**Thanks to julie662, Defy'GRavitY95, LandOfTheLivingSkys, heyhellogoodbyee, sci-fi-rocks, Katherine Julia, Vampire Blood Kitten, SlytherinPrincess1997, nf19 and AminaAmore for following.**

**Thanks to LandOfTheLivingSkys and Gabrielle Dashwood for favouriting.**

**Thanks to Sophia Lena Ducannes Riddle (Good luck. This week my teacher asked us why we thought Atticus was defending Tom Robinson and you should have seen me… I only just stopped myself from putting up my hand just to say 'I bet Lena Ravenwood knows!') and amaris12345 (yes, yes he is.) for reviewing (Two people reviewing? Two? C'mon people, you can do better than that!)**

**Also thanks to you if you were one of the 132 people who viewed last chapter! I cannot say your names because traffic stats aren't that detailed, but I know you read it! *hopes that doesn't sound too much like a 'after that, I watched you walk home every day' moment)**

**Please review!**

**~Comix**


	10. The Unbreakable Vow

Chapter Nine- The Unbreakable Vow

**A/N:**** Urgh I'm sooo bored. And happy. But mainly bored. So I typed this up. Here you are all. I'm writing the next chapter now. Thanks to luna and the marauders rock for fixing the plot line with me, otherwise the next chapter would be suckish and boring. I prefer this version; it has a funny part in it… Also thanks to Mandopony, TheWoodenToaster and TheLivingTombstone over on Youtube for writing amazing songs that I now listen to on a daily basis.**

**Disclaimer:**** I DON'T OWN ANYTHING! There is official J.K. content in here, but stick with me, from now on it'll be all my own work… Until I start lining myself up with canon information again, but that won't be until the end!)**

* * *

"'_Well, you can't break an Unbreakable Vow-' 'I'd worked that much out for myself, funnily enough.'_" Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,_ Chapter Sixteen _A Very Frosty Christmas_, page 305.

* * *

Monday was not a good day for Draco. He had been up half the night reading that idiotic book, the other half tossing and turning in his bed, trying to get to sleep. And now he had to face classes, of all things.

That was why, between lunch and his next class, Draco escaped to an empty girls' toilets that everybody seemed to avoid. He looked at himself in the mirror, whispering the words he had been telling himself since the last night.

"It's not true. It's not true. It can't be true. I'd never… I'd never get with… With _Granger_. Besides, she fancies Weaselbee… She fancies Weaselbee. It's not true. What does that stupid author who wrote the book know? Nothing. His only evidence is a childrens' story. It's probably not even true; it's most likely made up. It's not true…"

"Boy's aren't allowed in here." A girlish, mournful voice said. Draco jumped and turned to see a ghost he'd never seen before, who seemed to be around his age when she had died. Her hair was in bunches and she wore glasses like Potter's.

"Who are you?" Draco asked her somewhat rudely.

"I'm Myrtle… Who are you?" The ghost, Myrtle, said somewhat suspiciously.

"Draco Malfoy."

"What are you doing in here, Draco Malfoy?"

"I had to get away from the crowd; there's been a lot on my mind recently." Draco frowned, not willing to say any more.

"Like what?"

"No offense, Myrtle, but I don't really want to talk about it." Draco replied stiffly, composing his thoughts.

"Talking is therapeutic." Myrtle insisted, floating closer to him.

And so Draco reluctantly told her everything. What the Dark Lord had told him to do, what had happened to Granger, the deal he had struck with the Mudblood, the problem that had occurred with the Vanishing Cabinet, and on top of it all, the thing he had read about him being Granger's… Being Granger's… Soul mate. It felt strangely good to get it all off his chest.

"… But it can't be true… it can't, right?" Draco looked at the ghost.

"I don't know." Said Myrtle defensively. "I think I can hear her though, or at least, I did once. And I think I can help with your Vanishing Cabinet. Slughorn was bragging last night about how he was going to get a new shipment of Yetisol Azurae- he will show it off at this Slug Club Christmas Party thing."

Draco cursed. "If I was in the Slug Club I could get in, but I'm not…"

"Hm…" Myrtle was quiet for a second, merely watching him through her round-rimmed glasses, and then she gave him one last piece of advice. "Maybe he'll let you in if you're in his really good books."

"Yes!" Draco's face brightened. "Thanks Myrtle, so much! You are the best! I'll see you later." The ghost blushed, and Draco rushed out of the bathroom as the bells rang, signalling his next lesson.

* * *

From that day onwards Draco behaved as well as he could in Potions, trying to get into Slughorns' good books. He wrote homework as well as he could, including as much information as possible. He was easily the best behaved person in his class, now that Granger was gone.

However, all of Draco's efforts were futile. He was effortlessly overshadowed by Potter, as he always was; by the Chosen One and his sudden amazing Potions skills that had blossomed over the summer.

How had Potter gotten so good, so fast? He hadn't had tutor lessons over the summer, because Potter lived in a Muggle community… so how? He sneaked a look over to where Potter and Weasley were stationed. Potter was keeping an eye on Slughorn, while Weasley copied from Potter's textbook. That did not make sense. Potter's book was the same as everybody else's, so why would Potter's be worth copying from? Unless… At the start of the year, Potter had not bought a book. He'd ordered one and used a spare from the cupboard in the meantime, an old and scrappy one. Draco's eyes widened. Could it be possible…? Had Potter gotten a textbook that had been written on by another student? It was easy to copy the knowledge into his new textbook, and then claim all alterations as his own work. It would explain everything… The dirty, rotten, half-blooded, uptight, stupid, undependable, lying, cheating son of a Banshee! In anger, Draco crushed a part of the chopped Chinese Chomping Cabbage that he was holding in his hand.

"Woah, you okay Malfoy?" Zabini asked.

"Yeah… Fine." Draco said, going to get another from the cupboard.

It didn't help him that Granger had disappeared. Draco hadn't seen neither hide nor hair of her since Gryffindor had won that Quidditch match. _Probably sat sulking in an abandoned room somewhere crying over the fact that she couldn't be with Weaselbee,_ Draco thought bitterly. _Well, I don't need her. She didn't do anything anyway. _Draco could fix the Vanishing Cabinet all by himself.

* * *

As it turned out, Draco couldn't get into Slughorns' good books. He'd heard that you could get in by helping out, but there was no way Draco was waiting on Potter and his lackeys. Zabini was going, but there was no way of getting Zabini to steal some Yetisol Azurae without being forced to tell him why, or what was in it for him. Granger was still AWOL, and Myrtle couldn't touch anything, so that left out ghost intervention. Accio depended on the skill of the castor, which Draco wasn't so sure about. It left one option… To sneak in.

So that was why Draco was dressed in all black, darting from shadow to shadow, trying to keep out of people's views. Of course, he was wearing a suit, in case he actually made it to the Slug Club, so that he would fit into the crowd. But it was black so that he would also mix with the shadows, if any Prefects were patrolling the corridor… Not that he'd be able to hide very well with his pale complexion and light blonde hair. Draco guessed that, had Granger been here, she would make a comment about something Muggle that Draco wouldn't understand. But Granger wasn't there, was she? She was still sulking, Draco tutted, and darted to another shadow.

"Mew." Draco froze and turned. He was Mrs Norris watching him with that creepy gaze of hers. He swore. A second later, Filch came rounding the corner.

"What have you found, my dear?" He asked his beloved cat, and he looked up, smiling through half rotten teeth. "My, my, you are in trouble, aren't you?" He cackled. "Out of bounds after hours…"

"I was going to Professor Slughorn's Christmas Party. I was invited, but I got caught up." Draco snapped, only half-lying. "I don't see how that is a problem."

"Let's just see about that, shall we?" Filch smirked and grabbed Draco by the ear, dragging him to an unsuspecting Slug Club.

* * *

"Professor Slughorn," wheezed Filch, his jowls aquiver and the maniacal light of mischief detection in his bulging eyes, "I discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party and to have been delayed in setting out. Did you issue him with an invitation?"

Draco quickly pulled himself free of Filch's grip, looking furious.

"All right, I wasn't invited!" he said angrily. "I was trying to gate-crash, happy?"

"No, I'm not!" said Filch, a statement at complete odds with the glee on his face. "You're in trouble, you are! Didn't the Headmaster say that night-time prowling's out, unless you've got permission, didn't he, eh?"

"That's all right, Argus, that's all right," said Slughorn, waving a hand. "It's Christmas, and it's not a crime to want to come to a party. Just this once, we'll forget any punishment; you may stay, Draco."

Filch's expression of outraged disappointment was perfectly predictable, but now Draco was unhappy. Now that he had been discovered, it would be more difficult to snatch Yeti-Zur from under Slughorn's nose. If the man caught him, would he be as forgiving? Filch turned and shuffled away, muttering under his breath, and so Draco composed his face into a smile and thanked Slughorn for his generosity.

"It's nothing, nothing," said Slughorn, waving away his thanks. "I did know your grandfather, after all…"

"He always spoke very highly of you, sir," said Draco quickly. "Said you were the best potion-maker he'd ever known…"

"I'd like a word with you, Draco." Said Professor Snape suddenly. Draco hadn't even noticed him there.

"Oh, now, Severus," said Slughorn, hiccoughing, "It's Christmas, don't be too hard-"

"I'm his Head of House, and I shall decide how hard, or otherwise, to be," said Snape curtly. "Follow me, Draco."

They left, Snape leading the way, Draco feeling resentful of being taken out of the party when he should be stealing Yetisol Azurae. The Professor led him to an old classroom that had obviously been left for years.

"Draco…" Snape began, shaking his head slowly. "Sit down."

Draco sat.

"What has happened so far this term, Draco… It was foolish to try to break into Professor Slughorn's office this night, not to mention what happened to Miss Bell earlier this year... You cannot afford mistakes, Draco, because if you are expelled-"

"I didn't have anything to do with it, all right?"

"I hope you are telling the truth, because it was both clumsy and foolish. Already you are suspected of having a hand in it."

"Who suspects me?" Draco said, covering fear with anger. "For the last time, I didn't do it, OK? That Bell girl must've had an enemy no one knows about- don't look at me like that!" Draco felt him trying to invade his mind, rid all of his thoughts of Hermione, and placed a blockade around his mind. "I know what you're doing, I'm not stupid, but it won't work- I can stop you!"

"Ah… Aunt Bellatrix has been teaching you Occlumency, I see. What thoughts are you trying to conceal from your master, Draco?"

"I'm not trying to conceal anything from _him_; I just don't want _you_ butting in!" Moreover, he didn't want Snape knowing that he was helping Granger, his _enemy_, a Mudblood. Especially when Snape had put her in that situation in the first place.

"So that has been why you have been avoiding me this term? You have feared my interference? You realise that, had anybody else failed to come to my office when I had told them repeatedly to be there, Draco-"

"So put me in detention! Report me to Dumbledore!" Draco jeered, not caring at all.

Snape paused, and then said, "You know perfectly well that I do not wish to do either of those things."

"You'd better stop telling me to come to your office, then!"

"Listen to me," Snape said, striding forward to him, anger seeping through the air around him. "I am trying to help you. I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow, Draco-"

"Looks like you'll have to break it then, because I don't need your protection! It's my job, he gave it to me and I'm doing it. I've got a plan and it's going to work, it's just taking a bit longer than I thought it would!"

"What is your plan?"

"It's none of your business!" Draco snapped, looking away from him. He shouldn't be butting in, not now…

"If you tell me what you are trying to do, I can assist you-"

"I've got all the assistance I need, thanks, I'm not alone!" Draco replied, trying to keep a level head. It was true. He had Granger, the smartest witch of his age. He needed nobody else to help him, especially not Snape.

"You were certainly alone tonight, which was foolish in the extreme, wandering the corridors without lookouts or back-up. These are elementary mistakes-"

"I would've had Crabbe and Goyle with me if you hadn't put them in detention!" Draco yelled, his temper getting the better of him.

"Keep your voice down." Spat Snape, "If your friends Crabbe and Goyle intend to pass their Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. this time around, they will need to work a little harder than they are doing at pres-"

"What does it matter? Defence Against the Dark Arts- it's all just a joke, isn't it, an act? Like any of us need protecting against the Dark Arts-"

"It is an act that is crucial to success, Draco!" said Snape. "Where do you think I would have been all these years, if I had not known how to act? Now listen to me! You are being incautious, wandering around at night, getting yourself caught, and if you are placing your reliance on assistants like Crabbe and Goyle-"

"They're not the only ones; I've got other people on my side, better people!" _Better people than you._

"Then why not confide in me, and I can-"

"I know what you're up to! You want to steal my glory!"

Snape paused once more, before speaking coldly. "You are speaking like a child. I quite understand that your father's capture and imprisonment has upset you, but-"

Draco wanted to yell at him, no, it was not that, well… it was partly that, but he did not need help, not want help from the person that had split Hermione Granger's soul from her body!

Draco froze.

Why did he think that? Was that why he so suddenly distrusted Snape? It couldn't be. Clearly, he couldn't care less about Granger's predicament, he only hung around with her because she was smart and could help him, he had no feelings for her buy hate and resentment… right? He turned, and pushed the door open, striding out of the room, and rushing away.

He had to sort his life out.

* * *

**A/N:**** Yes. Yes you do, Draco. **

**Thanks to Caddle, bookreader28982012, Sparxfly93, AkumiTenshi, Chabela and Konoha's Hanyou Kunoichi for following.**

**Thanks to bookreader28982012, XMisxHallawayX and Rabid-Button for favouriting.**

**Thanks to moonlight fire xx (thank you!), bookreader28982012 (oh look another chapter that had nothing to do with your review at all *shifts eyes nervously*), amaris12345 (mwahahahahahaha Draco we is making your life drama-filled…), XMissxHallawayX (thank you!) Sophia Lena Duchannes Riddle (I am so excited- I PM'd you why! *freaking out freaking out freaking out…*) sayuri-chan-aly (Thank you, and I think Draco may or may not tell her… Strangley I didn't think about that until you mentioned it!), LandOfTheLivingSkys (YOU DIDN'T REVIEW?! Well you mustn't have if I you checked and you didn't! But you reviewed for that chapter so now everything is all perfect again, and thank you.), lovealan (Guest) (thank you!) and Ayla (Guest) (Thanks a lot!)**

**Review! It makes me happy, and makes YOU all 20% cooler.**

**~Comix**

**(Also, sorry it's not up to my usual standards, I couldn't be bothered to edit it more than to get rid of grammar and spelling mistakes, normally after typing it all up I add in many description wordies, but I couldn't be bothered today…)**


	11. Over Christmas

Chapter Ten- Over Christmas

**A/N:**** Half of this chapter is checked and edited accordingly. The other half is probably bad. I don't care. I'm getting this up to you guys so you can get the chapter you deserve. I'm listening to the Titanic soundtrack for some reason right now and it makes me want to cry… Such a sad film and a sad happenstance in history… Either way, you're all caught up with me, so now we can all expect chapters to be less quick in the coming, unless my brain goes: OH MY GOD OF COURSE GRAB A PENCIL AND WRITE THIS ALL OVER YOUR HISTORY WORK! Which it probably won't… Here's the chapter anyway! (Who's excited for The Casual Vacancy? I am! I want my Mum to buy it, but I'll probably have to wait until Christmas…) Oh, and thank you to the wonderful Luna and The Marauders Rock, for giving us all a brilliant plot line to follow which wouldn't have been as fun to write if I had not listened to her advice! YAY LUNA AND THE MARAUDERS ROCK! (Over excited much? Yeah...)**

* * *

"_Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love._" ~John le Carre  
**(amaria12345, who do you think this pretty much sums up?)**

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Draco's homecoming was met by different reactions by different people. His mother, who had worried over him during his entire autumn term, showered him with love and affection, though most of it was unrequited. The Dark Lord paid great interest to him, questioning him deeply at the first on his task, how far he had gotten, how close he was to completing it, so on and so forth, though his only interest truly was how close he was getting to taking over Hogwarts.

When the Dark Lord heard of the mishap with the poison, he had been… less than pleased. Draco's Aunt Bellatrix, of course, pounced on the opportunity to reprimand her nephew and to eagerly teach him the Dark Ways. '_Double-coat_', '_Imperius_' and '_secrecy_' were what she was most often heard whispering to him in the dark hallways of Malfoy Manor.

Draco never once mentioned Hermione Granger, and neither did the Deatheaters.

One dinnertime, as the house elves were serving the main course- Filet Mignon with a creamy shallot sauce and crispy onions, the Dark Lord brought up a topic that, by that time, everybody around the table had gotten bored of.

"So, Draco, any luck with your attempts to get Deatheaters into Hogwarts?"

"My Lord, I am pursuing a hint given to me about a broken Vanishing Cabinet. It is connected to a similar one in Borgin and Burkes." Draco replied diplomatically. At the Dark Lord's interested look, he reluctantly continued. "However, I have hit a slight problem. The Vanishing Cabinet cannot function properly without Yetisol-Azurae, of which I have… none."

"Oh, no matter Draco," The Dark Lord laughed lightly. "We will simply have Severus bring you some in via his Floo, which, by personal request by Dumbledore, no less, s not being monitored."

Eager to change the direction of the conversation, Draco looked around. "Say, my Lord, where is my Aunt and that other Deatheater… What is his name? Some type of monkey…"

Narcissa, Draco's mother, coughed. "Gibbon, son. His name is Gibbon."

"Yes, Gibbon, exactly." Draco nodded.

The Dark Lord smiled condescendingly at him and said vaguely, "Bellatrix is helping Gibbon with a certain thing I would like him to do."

That was the end of the conversation.

* * *

On his way back to his room, Draco had to bass by Gibbon's room, on the third floor. He paused when he heard a deep-throated grunt.

"No, no, no, you're doing it all wrong!" Came his Aunts shrill commentary. "That… That is really, really wrong!"

"Oh yeah?" Came Gibbon's voice. "Well if you think it's so easy, you do it."

"Fine." His aunt sounded smug. There was a pause, and then Gibbon spoke, sounding confused.

"How did you do… that?"

Another pause.

"Now that… that just makes you look like a slut." His Aunt sighed. Draco's eyes widened and he decided he didn't want to know what they were doing. He hastily retreated to his room.

* * *

The rest of the holiday was uninteresting. Draco, in his spare time, tried to search for Granger's body. He had no luck, but refused to give up, so it would seem as if he'd actually done something over the holidays.

When Draco got to Hogwarts he walked straight to the Room of Requirement, their undeclared meeting place to hell her that he wasn't completely useless, and how he had arranged for Yetisol-Azurae to be given to them- maybe Granger had stolen some from Slughorn while everyone was away, then they could carry on sooner. However, when Draco had searched around the room, he came to the relation that she simply was not there. Draco was confused, until he realised that she was probably just in the library, doing what she did best- reading. Sighing, he turned and walked out of the door.

On his way to the library, Draco was forced to take a detour, since, standing oblivious to everybody else, was Potter, Weasley and Granger. Draco was about to turn a corner when he realised what he had seen.

Potter, Weasley and Granger.

Granger.

Back in her body, as if nothing had happened to her. Laughing and joking with Potter and Weasley. She felt him staring, and turned to meet his silver, questioning gaze.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Granger asked coolly, narrowing her eyes at him. Draco was shocked at her rudeness, but masked it quickly with a sneer.

"I was just wondering when you had returned, Granger." He replied.

"It's none of your business, frankly." Granger snapped. Draco's eyebrows rose. Even before 'The Incident', Granger had never spoken to him as she just had.

"Hermione…" Potter looked at her worriedly. The girls brown eyes went wide, and then she began to sniffle.

"I'm sorry, Harry." She said pathetically, "It's just… He knows when I… when I escaped. He knew where I was the… the w… whole time!" She burst out crying, and Weaselbee shot Draco a glare that could kill, pulling her into a comforting hug.

"Shove off, Malfoy." He ground out through clenched teeth.

"Careful Brown doesn't see you two like that, Won-Won." Draco hissed, turning on his heel and storming off. He wasn't going to the library now. There was no point. Granger was back to normal. It was clear she didn't need his help anymore, and even more so that she did not want it.

* * *

When Draco got back to his dormitory, he found it empty. On his crisp, newly washed duck-feathered pillows was a book, flicked open to a page. One look at the chapters sub-title told him what it was. 'Paranormalcy in The Wizarding World: Ghosts A-Z' by Roland Finch lay where it had been placed, silently mocking him.

_She doesn't need you anymore_, the book seemed to whisper. _She hates you again. You mean nothing to her. She will not help you. You are on your own now. She hates you. She is disgusted by you. She despises…_

"SHUT UP!" Draco yelled loudly, drowning out the tome's mocking tone. He picked up the book and threw it against the nearby wall with as much force as he could muster. He was rewarded with a deep thud as it collided with its target.

Draco collapsed on his newly made bed heavily, suddenly exhausted, and placed his head in his hands. Why was he so affected by what had happened less than five minutes ago? If anything, he should be happy Granger was back as she had once been, it was less for him to worry about, and one thing he did not have to do anymore this year. He had had enough on his plate without Granger's problems being lumped onto him as well.

So why did he feel so betrayed? So lonely? So… so angry? What had been that churning feeling in the pit of his stomach when Granger had glared at him so coldly; her gaze had been like ice? When Weasley had held her like he had? What was going on? Draco sighed and closed his eyes, trying to put the picture of Granger's hatred towards him to the back of his mind… Why did he care? She was back now; he never had to speak to her again! So… why did that bother him?

He felt as if he had only closed his eyes for a second, but when he opened them, the candles in his dormitory were lit, signalling that night had fallen around the castle. For a second he wondered what had woken him up, he felt as if he could had slept for years without waking, but then he saw Zabini standing in front of him, holding that infernal book by one of its covers, swinging it back and fore.

"This yours?" He asked impatiently. Draco nodded.

"Throw it in my trunk." Draco replied sleepily, and Zabini rolled his eyes. Draco was barely able to get undressed and get under the covers of his bed, drawing his emerald bed curtains shut, before he curled up into a ball, squeezing his eyes together tightly and letting the blissful sleep reclaim him.

* * *

**A/N:**** More drama for Drakie-Poo… Really should be putting more of Hermione's side of things in here, but we all know I can't be bothered to right now. We'll see, though… Maybe in the really important capital lettered point of the story I have written down on the plot? That could be Hermione's place to sort out her mind… Don't mind me, just thinking on a keyboard, move onto the thanks!**

**Thanks to MFINGA25, Laugh-Dream-Love and GottaGetBackUp for favouriting.**

**Thanks to MFINGA25, Laugh-Dream-Love, 567random, Delaney Snow, GottaGetBackUp, PSLW and Shadow15Raven for following.**

**Thanks to XMissxHallawayX (Thank you for such compliments! Must remind myself to look at your favourites list, been meaning to do it, but everybody keeps updating their stories… not that I'm complaining…), MFINGA25 (Thank you!), Sophia Lena Duchannes Riddle (Considering I'm technically reading Beautiful Creatures now I should be giving you tons of advice, but the only thing my mind can come up with is write a number on your hand! Heh it's decided that it's work is done for this week and will not work again until it decides to write something else. But for Hermione hair I recommend plaiting your hair before you go to bed, then unplaiting in the morning, unless you have naturally frizzy hair like moi!), bookreader28982012 (Thank you!), moonlight fire xx (Thank you!) GottaGetBackUp (I love your name! You're the song stuck in my head though… And thank you!) and amaris12345 (Yes, yes he is. Such a big river of denial, and it's getting deeper…)**

**Finally, WE HIT THE 50 REVIEW MARK! Normally I'd wait until 100 but I CAN'T HELP IT! Yay to bookreader28982012 for being my 50****th**** reviewer, and to Sophia Lena Duchannes Riddle for being my 49****th**** reviewer, since 49 is my favourite number, though I have no idea why. Something to do with it being 7 squared probably….**

**Either way, REVIEW MORE SO I CAN BE HAPPY!**

**~Comix**


	12. Page 394

Chapter 11- A Bunch of Depressing Thoughts and A Happy Ending (Also known publically as 'Page 394')

**A/N:**** Hi all! Really scary moment this week when I'd written all of Draco's part and then the computer crashed and I thought I'd lost it all! Luckily, auto-save saved my life. I must try to put in more of Hermione's thoughts, but looking at the plot there aren't many points where, this story mostly focuses on Draco as he falls for her. If there's a sequel, be assured that Hermione will have more thoughts. NOT THAT THERE WILL BE! I said IF. But there's no saying… Even though I can't write war for toffee… and I love toffee… Either way, let's not delay, and we'll start reading today.**

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"_Don't make assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life._" ~Miguel-Angel-Ruiz

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Draco could not care less about that Hermione Granger. I mean, who in Slytherin would? Especially since that insufferable know-it-all had used him, and she couldn't care less about it. No. Draco did not care about her at all.

That didn't mean, of course, that he didn't notice her, or hear all of the gossip about her. It was impossible not to. They shared almost every single class, and everybody wanted to know everything about what happened to her. During lessons, she blushed and kept her head down, but she never seemed to be doing her work, she just… sat there. Head bent down over a blank piece of parchment. Barley moving, unless a teacher asked her a question. Then, she would look up, blink a couple of times, and then answer the question, perfectly as usual, despite not following the lesson plan…

Outside school, however, she was happy to answer all the questions the curious and adoring public had for her.

Hermione? Hermione? Where have you been, Hermione? Did Voldemort kidnap you? How did you get away? Is it true you were actually in Bulgaria with Viktor Krum? Did you miss Hogwarts? Are you glad to be back? Did you get hurt? Did somebody come and rescue you? Hermione? Hermione?

Hermione's answers were short, to the point, and, most of all, _lies_. "I have been in Malfoy Manor for the past six months." _Now, Draco you don't know that for sure. Her body COULD have been in Malfoy Manor_, an annoying voice told Draco, but why wouldn't she mention how she had been here the whole time, nobody being able to see her? It wasn't like she should be embarrassed about it!  
"Yes, Voldemort did kidnap me." _Okay, so maybe that one was true…_  
"One night, one of the Deatheaters forgot to lock my door. I snuck out, found my wand, and got out of there as soon as I could." _Maybe a Deatheater would forget to lock a door… But no way would you get out of Voldemort's lair so easily…_  
"No, I was not with Viktor! I have not seen Viktor for years!" _Maybe that one could have been true as well, Draco didn't know Viktor Krum's private life, so he would have no clue.  
_"Of course I missed Hogwarts. I am glad to be back." _You never really left!  
_"Apart from emotional trauma, I am perfectly fine." _Yeah suuure Granger. Emotional trauma from hanging around with Draco all day…_  
"Nobody came to rescue me. Nobody tried to help me. I had no aid… Nobody could have helped me." This statement hurt Draco the most. Somebody had helped her. _He_ had helped her. Was that so hard to admit, that Draco Malfoy had helped her when nobody else could?

What had happened to the Granger he had spent the entire first term of school with, the Granger who hit him with books when he said something too mean, the Granger who scoffed at his little snide comments and got him back later, the Granger who offered to watch him eat ice cream when he was feeling down? That had never been Granger. It had all been an act. An act that Draco had so foolishly fallen for.

One day, after sitting in History of Magic for an hour, watching as Granger slumped over her desk, dead to the world - _hah. Dead to the world. Isn't that what people call irony?_ Draco left as soon as the bells rung through the room, signalling the end of class. He went to the place where he was least likely to hear about Granger - his room. Of course, it had been a while since he had gone to see Myrtle, but he… just didn't seem in the mood. He just wanted to go back to his room and wallow in his self-pity and impending doom…

The dormitory was quiet. Everybody else was either outside in the cold, crisp air, or cramming for that Defence test Snape had hinted at earlier in the day. Nobody had been in the room since they had gotten up this morning. Draco narrowed his eyes. _If that is so… Then how did that get there?_

He was referring, of course, to the object that sat neatly on his bed, as it had exactly one month ago. As if it had never moved. It was probably still on the same page - that stupid book, the one about what had happened to Granger, the thing Draco had left in the very bottom of his trunk, because looking at it only reminded him she hated him…

Draco scowled. He was about to throw the book back into his trunk, where it belonged, when something caught his eye. One word. One single word. That was all it took, to capture his curiosity and make him pause.

"Hijacking." He read aloud. "Hijacking? He picked up the book, and his eyes flicked over the page quickly, barely reading the sentences. "Turn to page three… nine… four…" Slowly, he flicked to the pages. Oh. That story. The story that decreed that Draco and Granger were soul mates. "How ridiculous." Draco muttered, but read through the passage anyways, figuring if somebody had left this on his bed it had to be for a reason. His eyes scanned the pages, eyes widening as the story continued. At the end of the paragraph, his mouth dropped open unceremoniously, and the book fell from his hands.

Ignoring him. Ignoring what had happened in the first term of school. Lying. Not working in class. Not acting like herself… It all made sense now. Thanks to the book, it all made sense.

"That's not Granger."

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**A/N: At this point in time I said to myself: And end. Then I ended up having a glaring match with myself in the mirror for an hour, going to the library for two hours and choosing books, then singing wrock songs for half an hour before I convinced myself that you all deserved more than that (let's face it) recap on last chapter, even if it did end in a cliffhanger. So, say thank you to my glaring contesting self!**

* * *

Hermione Granger slumped across the railings of the Astronomy tower, sighing and watching the full, white moon as it slowly crawled across the jet black sky.

"What's the point?" She asked it, feeling slightly crazy that she was talking to a moon, but… nobody else could talk to her, could they? She felt alone, alienated, even more so than she had at the beginning of the school year. Why was that? Oh, yeah. In the beginning, Hermione had thought she _was_ alone. It was worse now she knew she didn't have to be alone, and yet be mercifully ignored by the only person she could talk to. "What is the point of doing anything?" She had tried for help, but… had she been on a desert island, it would have been as if the message in a bottle had floated back, unopened. "Twice. Twice I left the book, and…" _Nothing. Not a single thought on it._ She knew this because he had not come looking for her. Had he cared, he would have looked to help. But he hadn't. _He hasn't._

She blamed the one parading around in her body. She had not quite worked it out just yet, but she had already estimated they were a Deatheater, and that they were wreaking havoc… _What if he's in on it?_ It made so much sense. He was a Deatheater - they were Deatheaters - they would plan together, right? That was why he hadn't looked for her! She would only cause problems towards them.

She thrust her head into her hands with a muffled sob. Hadn't everything been going perfectly? Hadn't their alliance been working out? It had been for her, anyways. Company… Help… Helping… What had gone wrong? _What went wrong? What did I do wrong?_

"Granger?" Hermione froze at the sound of her surname. Nobody should - oh, wait… There was another Hermione Granger now. They were probably looking for the other one. "Granger?" She ignored the voice, and continued to stare at the moon forlornly. "Look, it's after hours and I have spent at least half of one searching this entire castle for you. So by Merlin if you ignore me I'll just go back to the dorms and leave you to skulk in your Mudbloodiness."

"That isn't a word." She said carelessly, forgetting for a moment the person couldn't hear her.

"Of course it's not." The person chuckled drily, and joined her at the railing. "Trust you to correct me on that. What phrase would you rather me use, huh? How about bad mood? Or selfishness?"

She spluttered. "Selfishness? I am not selfish, Draco Malfoy." For it was him. Who else could hear her, and see her? The real her? There he was, lazily leaning over the edge of the Astronomy Tower, his platinum hair not covered in gel for once, and hanging around his face. His striking grey eyes peered at her amusedly.

"Really? Then where have you been all month?" He looked away. "I had no clue until this evening that you where… that she was… that there was another Hermione Granger, a _fake_ Hermione Granger going around Hogwarts. I thought she was you… that you were ignoring me, forgetting… the past." He coughed, and Hermione frowned.

"I thought you knew. I left the book for you. Twice. I thought you had worked it out." She said quietly.

"No…" His eyes widened. "Did you… Did you read page three-nine-four then?"

"First of all, it's not three-nine-four; it's three hundred and ninety-four. Secondly… No, I didn't. I only read the part about hijacking somebody's uninhabited body and that was on page five hundred and forty-nine." Hermione replied, then raised her eyebrows. "Why? What was on page three hundred and ninety-four?"

"Nothing… Nothing…" A tinge of pink appeared around the teenage boy's cheeks, and Hermione wondered if he was blushing. She resisted the urge to giggle, and then wondered why she wanted to giggle in the first place. They stared at the moon for a while longer, before Hermione let a sigh escape her.

"What am I going to do, Malfoy?" She asked. "What do I… w-what do I d-d-d-DO!?" Halfway through her sentence, she burst into tears. Malfoy blinked once, twice, and then attempted to comfort her, even though he couldn't really touch her since his hand kept passing through her.

"Sssh… Sssh… It'll be okay." Malfoy murmured. "Everything will be okay. According to page three-nine-four…"

"Three hundred and ninety-four, M-Malfoy…" She sniffed, her nose running.

"First off, that thing your nose is doing? It's gross. Stop it." She glared at him, before giggling somewhat half-heartedly. "Second, I think we both know I don't care how you say the page number." She rolled her eyes. "Third, and last, I was saying something comforting. If you don't want me to help, all you have to do is say."

"No… I'm fine with you helping." Hermione whispered.

"Pardon?"

"I'm fine with you helping."

"What's that? I can't quite hear you Granger…"

"Malfoy." She stared at him.

"Okay, okay." He backed off. "But, it's okay. Everything's going to be fine. We will research for a way to fix this mess. There has to be some way to do it." He smiled comfortingly at her, and she smiled back. "Everything's going to be fine, Hermione."

"What?"

"… What?"

"You called me Hermione."

"What? No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Draco, you did. You called me Hermione."

"What?"

"… What?"

"You called me Draco."

"What? No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"No, I didn't."

"Hermione, you did. You called me Dra- this is going around in circles, isn't it?" Draco deadpanned, and Hermione laughed.

"I did call you Draco, didn't I?"

"Yes."

"And… You called me Hermione." He nodded. "That's… okay, right? It doesn't freak you out a bit?"

"What? No it doesn't freak me out why does it freak you out?" Draco asked in a rush. Hermione shook her head.

"It's fine by me..." She said, and looked back out at the moon. "Draco."

_Maybe I was wrong about what I had thought…_

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**A/N:**** Aw cutsey ending! From this point onwards you can't really tell who's saying who unless you pay close attention to the different thoughts and recognise how to tell the two of them apart… Which I can't do yet in this story- that's a bad thing, right? Onward to mail!**

**Thanks to HJKScout, FollowTheButterflies124, Preemtive Karma, NataliaLea, LEGENDary TITANS, xXlokifan22x, PattoG, Husky713, literaryrachel, morbid17 and im-incognito for following.**

**Thanks to NtalieLea, LEGENDary TITANS, 567random, many1744 and literaryrachel for favouriting.**

**AND THANKYOU TO FollowTheButterflies-**_who, according to the joined logic of my laptop and new phone who is named Sirius Blackberry, reviewed literally seconds after I posted the chapter! _**(And so thank you for that, of which I wrote in italics. I liked your thoughts on Polyjuice… and perhaps you have seen. Perhaps you have already seen from this chapter. Perhaps I'll have to post what happened to her in the next A/N to the slower fans. And also, yes, you may have a jumbo cranberry muffin, here you are!), NatalieLea (Hermione… IS AN IMPOSTER! Dun dun duh! Aw poor angsty Draco **** and thank you!), LEGENDary TITANS (This review made me feel very conflicted. On one hand, I was practically hyperventilating because a person was sneaking my story into their life between class, and they were praising me like BOOM [don't ask why my thoughts are so unlike my writing style, it just is] and they've given me advice and they were being nice and and and and and and… but then I felt sad because if you didn't pay attention during class you might fail the class and it would be all my fault wait I have Lady Gaga on my phone? I did not know that… Either way, I would like to say: Thank you soooooo much, and pay attention in class!), LandOfTheLivingSkys (Thank you! And I agree: Poor Draco…), Arabella Song (*raises eyes suggestively* What do you think happened then Arabella? And thank you.), sayuri-chan-aly (correct!), lovealan (Thank you! *eyes widen as review is fully read like Ginny's did in the second film when she saw Harry in the Weasley's kitchen* have you been reading my PMs between luna and marauders rock? Because I swear… I swear you just… Let's just say I'm not saying tu as tort… [that's French… in the making, I'm still learning…] and thank you once more!), Husky713 (Thank you! Would you believe me if I said that the short chapters where not intentional, and they just came out that way? Either way, I'm glad you like my story!), amaris12345 (Yep. I had that feeling to. All this angst and sad thoughts are hard to write when you feel hyper, happy and have the constant urge to revise for your Physics test that you… have… on… Friday… *realisation dawns* I may have to type faster and revise… And yes there is something wrong with that Hermione…), Sophia Lena Duchannes Riddle (You're welcome! And thank you! You are correct. It is not), GrangerFan (Thank you! You are welcome!) and SlytherinDream98 (Thank you! And I'm glad you worked it out - it wasn't that well concealed really… I felt like I had to make it obvious otherwise Draco, the idiot he is, would just give up and Hermione would never get back to her body…)**

**In other news, I am astounded (ooh big word!) by the reaction I got off that last chapter. I believe that's the most reviews I've gotten on a chapter in the space of a week in this story (I'm not sure about HVD or HVS, I'd check if I could be bothered) and I want to thank each. And. Every. One. Of. You. Which I kind of just did, but THANK YOU AGAIN! Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh…**

_**Also, an important notice for the future:**** Don't expect updates to be as often anymore. My friends have requested a comic series on our teachers being evil, which has lately become extremely addicting (don't ask), and the whole 'revising' thing that comes with doing your GCSE's has boomed on me since I have both a Science and English exam in January (seems long way away? THINK AGAIN! I'm too young to die! *overreacts for good reason*). Even more so, November is… Can you guess? Yep, NaNoWriMo, and since I discovered it halfway through November last year, I have decided to try to take part in it this year. Hopefully. It won't be very extreme, but I want to say that I have tried NaNoWriMo at least once, you know? AND… Last year I began a Christmas story that I really liked, which I named 25 Days To Change Your Mind. I didn't name it, but the story came from a sort of dream that was a cross between The Grinch and Harry Potter. I didn't finish it and I'm far from finishing it, but I feel as if it would be a good contribution to Christmas this year, so I'm going to try to do that as well. Busy few months… So in conclusion… I have a History essay to do oh drapple I forgot about that as well… Anyway, in conclusion, I am sorry if updates are not as often. I will not give up on this story!**_

**~Comix**


	13. Snow

Chapter Twelve- An overdue and bad chapter (Publically known as Snow)

**A/N:**** Um… Hej… Everybody. *laughs awkwardly* I'm not dead. Though what with the HetaOni feels and never-ending exams, it can sometimes feel that way! I've been gone a while, huh? (6 months and 2 days according to my math…) First off, I'M REALLY SORRY! I have plenty of excuses, but they aren't the best, and I suppose you just want to read the really badly written chapter now… right?**

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"_The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?_" ~J. B. Priestley

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Hermione watched attentively as Draco slowly tried to fit in the Yetisol Azurae into its narrow slot. Snape had retrieved it for them, and now Draco was placing it in so that they could continue working on the cabinet. A shadow of a smile unconsciously drifted across her face as a bead of sweat worked its way from the line of his perfect platinum hair and past his focused grey eyes that seemed to shine silver in the light, her eyes glued to it as the liquid moved around his pale, thin lips that were pursed tight in concentration. When it got to his firm, chiselled jaw, Draco swiped it off his face with a quick flick, and Hermione looked away, blushing crimson. _What the- What am I thinking?_ She shook her head free of distracting thoughts, and looked down at the guidebook she often had with her when they were working on the Vanishing Cabinet.

"A little to the right, Draco!" She called out, looking up swiftly. He grunted in annoyance.

"Back off, Hermione. I can do this on my own." He snapped, and she snorted. _Men._ Grinning to herself, she turned and floated through the piles of junk that lay in the room. Hermione hadn't much thought of them up until this point- when they had been looking for the Vanishing Cabinet, she hadn't focused on them, just on how they were not what she was looking for. There were all kinds of objects in there- she was sure if she looked around hard enough, and for long enough, she could find something that dated back to the time of Merlin! After a while, she came across a picture, a painted picture which, like all pictures in the Wizarding world, moved. It was the scene of a small blue bird hopping around green foliage. Every so often it would whistle a four-note melody. _Strange,_ Hermione mused, _I've never heard this before, and I've been in here often… Perhaps it only sings when somebody is in proximity?_ She tentatively held her hand out and brushed her fingers over the rough, yet strangely smooth at the same time, surface. Alarmed, the bird hopped off the branch, and flew out of the painting somewhere else. That was when she noticed the light filtering through the painting-not just from the painting, but behind it. Carefully, she picked up the canvas and placed it elsewhere. When she saw what had been behind the painting, her face lit up.

"Done!" Draco called from behind her. "What did I say? All by myself. Done."

"It's snowing!" Hermione breathed, grinning as she watched the snow outside fall gracefully into a lump somewhere in the countryside.

"It's winter!" Draco replied sarcastically. He turned to look at her, but she had disappeared. "Hermione? Where have you…" He groaned.

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"Hermione. You do not leave when a person is in the middle of a sentence… what are you doing?" Draco cut his reprimanding off when he saw Hermione laying down on the ground throwing her arms and legs around randomly. "Are you having a fit?"

"No!" She laughed gleefully. "I'm making a snow angel!" She got up, and looked down, realising with a frown she hadn't made a dent in the still piling snowfall.

"That's… Completely idiotic." Draco shook his head sadly. "You have really gone down in my expectations." With that, he turned around and began the trek back up to the castle. Hermione smirked at his retreating back, and bent down on the ground.

Draco froze when he felt the wet substance hit his back. He turned, and glared at the ghost girl, who was floating innocently by a pile of snow.

"Did you just… Throw a snowball… At me?" He snarled lowly. Hermione paused, and nodded exaggeratingly. He raised his eyebrows, then scooped up some snow and hurled it at her… Of course, Hermione being a ghost, it just went through her. She burst out laughing and chucked another snowball at him. "Hey! That's no fair!" He pointed out. She just laughed. He picked up another, as if throwing another would automatically bend physics.

As he threw snowball after snowball at her, Hermione just smiled warmly and shook her head at his childishness. "Draco, give up, it's no use. Make a snowman, or something, instead."

"No!" He wailed. "If you can hit me with a snowball, I can hit you with a snowball!"

Hermione laughed, and Draco glared at her. He continued to throw snowballs at her for the next hour, before he began to shiver. Hermione sighed.

"Draco, you're going to catch a cold."

"W…Wrong." Draco argued. "I've alr… ready gotten...n…n...a- a- a- ACHOO!" He sneezed. "But I'm n…n…not going in…n…n until you g…get sno…o…snow on you." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You're such an idiot, Draco."

"Sh…Shut… U-u-u…p!" He grumbled, rubbing his arms. "F…F…Fine." He smiled shakily and turned to start walking back to the castle. "Y…Your fault any…way." Hermione couldn't figure the rest of the sentence, though she heard something about her not even being able to feel cold. She smiled, as he turned and asked if she was coming, or if she was just going to float there, smug at being immune to pneumonia. Though he generally acted like a spoilt brat- okay, he almost always acted like a spoilt brat, it was times like this when Hermione thought that maybe, if he'd been brought up without the social prejudices he would have been pretty nice. As it was, even with his attitude, they were still getting along well, and the Vanishing Cabinet was going to be complete any day. They were the best partners in Hogwarts- Hermione paused and grinned as she imagined what grade they would get if they were partnered together in a NEWT project…

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**A/N:**** Bad chapter is bad. I was meant to write Hermione's thoughts here to make the story flow better, but I couldn't write them, I'm sorry. I failed big time, and this was my biggest reason for leaving you guys! Okay, props to:**

**the-curse-of-angelica, rigoudon3, kimbo acp, melsocrazymarie, XD Mini Minna XD and GreenAnna for favouriting.**

**yanidee10, mydirtylittlesecret08, rigoudon3, CrazyReader3, BriseisRose, aminadawn, I'm A Sucker For Love Stories, kimbo acp, marauderette22, Elephantluv, tigerflags, XD Mini Minna XD, warriorlk and GreenAnna for following.**

**And thanks to: Sophia Lena Duchannes Riddle (**Sorry. The PM I sent you is now invalid, since I've updated, but if you do have any tips, I probably still need them, looking at this chapter… Thanks for the good luck, though I failed. Epically.)**, Rigoudon3 (**Thanks, and… Well, I have updated now, so…)**, tonkxremusxLillylunaxteddy19 98 **(Wow, long name~! Who is fake Granger… You'll find out next chapter!)**, Guest, Laryn Carter **(Thank you! And I have!)**, LandOfTheLivingSkys, **(Big reaction there! I hope you did well at NaNoWriMo?)**, Dark Godess109 **(Thank you, sorry about the shortness, this one's a bit short too!)**, FollowTheButterflies124** (Heh… I can be a bit hyper and hard to understand~. Thank you, and your welcome for the muffin!)** and warriorlk **(Thank you, and I have updated, finally!) **for reviewing! **

**Sorry for taking so long, I hope this lived up to your hopes (It didn't. I failed you. I know.)**

**~Comix and Co**


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